Welcome to the Mad House
by ElleMZ
Summary: Thieves have struck Storybrooke and one of the victims, the mysterious Jefferson, pushes the Sheriff Graham & his deputy to find his prized possessions. Meanwhile in FTL ,the Mad Hatter looks to find a bargaining chip against the Evil Queen and Rumpelstiltskin. (Sequel to Missing Pieces OC/Rose Red) Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Just having some fictional fun w/ OUAT.
1. Robbed!

**Storybrooke - Mr. Gold's Shop**

Deputy Kyle had just gotten in, but she could already tell that why she was supposed to be there. The pawn shop was in complete disarray, with the display cabinets smashed and the cases pulled down, scattering collectibles and knick-knacks all around the front.

It had been ten months she had been appointed deputy and this was the first time she stepped into Mr. Gold's shop. Seeing as her decorating tastes were contemporary, his shop never appealed to her. She had only glanced at the man while walking by him in the streets. He had seemed a bit dangerous to her, though she had no real reason to feel that way. For the most part he kept to himself as did she.

Arriving at the scene before her partner, Fiona had to make sure the place was clear. She had her gun ready and she started doing a sweep of the shop, room by room. Even though the front of the store was a mess, she was still able to see some incredible pieces and wondered from which world they were from.

Moving towards the back, she noticed that it was barely touched. Whatever they were looking for was in the front section.

"It appears that I have been robbed." She swung over to the deadpan voice and saw Mr. Gold. "You must be Deputy Kyle."

Since no one else seemed to be in the place besides them, she holstered her gun and shook his hand. "Pleasure meeting you, though I wished it were under better circumstances."

"I appreciate a young woman with manners." His polite smile quickly retreated. Assessing the damage around him, he inquired. "Have you found anything Deputy?"

"No, sir. I just arrived." The pair walked to the front. Pointing to the case to far right of the room, she noted, "This case seems to have the most damaged and judging by the lack of pieces around like the others, I'd say that the thieves focused on what was inside. "You wouldn't happen to recall what was inside there, would you?"

He frowned. "There were some older pieces in that one, weapons and the like."

Raising her brow, she asked. "What kind of weapons are we talking about?" It made her uneasy thinking about what people were running around with from his shop.

Gold was openly irritated at her, though she had no idea why. "Swords." He sarcastically followed up with, "All older than you."

The deputy sighed and tried to keep calm. She knew that she appeared much younger than she truly was thanks to the curse. It frustrated her when the townspeople treated her like a child instead of an adult she was. She tried to reason with the older man. "While Graham is great at what he does Mr. Gold, it would be extremely helpful if we can get started on the investigation now. It will increase of chances of finding the perpetrators."

Stubborn, he replied. "If you must know, deputy, I'd rather wait for Sheriff Humbert to be here when I give my statement."

Joining in Graham added his two cents, "Well, we aim to please Mr. Gold. I'd love to get your statement. Once I speak to the deputy first." Speaking to Fiona, he inquired, "What's the status?"

"I just got here about 15 minutes ago. The place is clear. I was just about to check the crime scene."

Happy that she followed procedure, he praised her. "Perfect, I'll let you get started with that."

She put on her gloves and start looking through the chaos to see if there were any clues that she could find. From her location she was unable to overhear the conversation between the Sheriff and shopkeeper.

The two were speaking softly and she wondered why. It wasn't as if the old man had a secret stash or anything. Or maybe he did.

Deputy Kyle now wondered if that was why Mr. Gold was being difficult. She didn't have much time to wonder as her boss came up to her. "Can I talk to you for a minute deputy? He nodded and went back to their cars. The Sheriff followed her outside. "I think it would be best if I handled Mr. Gold. He's not exactly a forthcoming guy. Do you mind going back to the station and handling things over there? As soon as I'm done I'll fill you in."

While she wanted to stay and help him out, she knew that Graham wasn't exactly making a suggestion and if she protested he was going to pull rank. "Sure thing Sheriff, I'll see if I can pull up anything useful for you."

"You have my full permission. Go for it." He instructed. "I'd love for this to be solved as soon as possible. Mr. Gold can be a difficult man." He doubted they'd get anywhere with him. Mr. Gold tended to keep his business private.


	2. New Proposition

**The Enchanted Forest - Dark Castle**

Jefferson arrived at the Dark Castle at the appointed time. He may have flaws, but he prided himself in being punctual. The gates magically opened and he continued walking the path in front of him until he reached the main doors.

As usual, Rumple was sitting in his seat at the far end of the table and had an enormous breakfast spread ready for him. The two had developed a rapport over the years and the imp knew that his traveling partner loved to have a big breakfast before any what was at stake he wanted to put his best foot forward. He needed Jefferson's expertise for this particular assignment.

"So happy you made it, my boy!" He happily greeted him.

Playing along, he joked, "Wow, this must be a special occasion. The good china is out." To be honest he had no idea why he was summoned here, but looking at the showy display, he had a feeling it was for something big.

Rumpelstiltskin was practically jumping out of his seat. "It is! I just recently heard some fantastic news. It seems like one of my prized possessions is still around. Unfortunately, I have no idea where, which is why I need your special talents." As hard as he tried, he couldn't get any information about the girl's whereabouts from that fairy he caught. She had stubbornly resisted his torture and she died with her secret intact. It angered him, but at least the world was rid of one more fairy, Matel, Adele, or whatever her name was.

Regrettably for the imp, Jefferson was unmoved. He had more pressing matters on his daughter Grace was ill and he was scouring all the realms for a solution to her problem. So far no matter how he paid, there was no one skilled. Even Dr. Frankenstein couldn't solve the problem. He and his wife were growing more concerned and desperate. He had actually considered going to Rumpelstiltskin to see if he had an answer, but his wife insisted that they not contact the imp. They had been through too much with him and new that his magic always came at a high price. She made Jefferson vow not to summon him.

In fact, when Rumple originally sent word of a proposition, he turned him down. However the persistent imp promised him that he would give him what he needed the most if he just heard him out. As he was running low on funds again, he decided it wouldn't hurt to hear what the job was. He could always say no if it proved to be too distracting or dangerous.

As Jefferson took some eggs and pastries from the table, he started asking about the job. "What is this prized possession of yours?" Last time he signed up without checking, he discovered that Rumple wanted a dragon's egg. That almost cost the Hatter his life, so he was more careful this time. He had ever intention to return to his wife and daughter in one piece.

He saunters up to the hatter in an almost jig fashion. "That's the best part dearie! My trinket is a small child. So tiny and compact." He would spend time to find and fetch the youngster himself, but he was being watched by both his former apprentice and by the determined and pious Blue Fairy. He need to get the girl into his safekeeping undetected all the while making preparations for the upcoming Dark Curse.

While he knew Rumple had a certain affinity to acquiring newborns, Jefferson was curious as to why this particular child was on the list."What's so special about this one?" There had to be more than what he was being told.

Rumple laughed. "The same as you, my boy - she's a portal jumper." Talking more to himself he added, "Well, not yet of course, but she will be. And a special one at that, as she'll be able to travel between realms - with and without magic." He teleported from one end of the room to the next and then back as an illustration of his newest target's skills.

Jefferson felt a twinge of jealousy. While he could certainly use his hat to travel between many lands and realms, even he had limitations with his power. His hat only took him to lands with magic. It gave him the ability to name is own price when taking assignments. He was considered to be the best in the business, which at this time, was only a handful of people. As far as he knew, due to his lack of ethics meant he got more clients than the others.

Now, though, as he was getting older he wanted more than just traveling with and for others. He was a bit more selective with who he worked with. Rumple was going to have to convince him to take this new deal as it sounded like a bother. "Sounds like she could be a powerful asset or liability. You sure you want that?"

The Dark One corrected him. "Yes, she is an asset, but like her mother, she can be manipulated." He could raise the child to be his back-up plan and help him retrieve his precious Baelfire. While she would acquire some abilities through her linage, portal jumping was not something to played around with. Like Jefferson, the girl would have to be specially trained, almost meticulously cultivated, to make sure she could transport not only herself, but others safely.

Sensing that the identity of the child's mother was vital, Jefferson asked. "Just who is her mother?" He hated surprises. They tended to hurt him.

The imp couldn't help but smile like a proud father. "Regina, of course." The Queen was becoming everything he had hoped she would and more. Leopold was now dead and her vendetta against Snow had darkened her heart even more. The beloved princess was on the run and it was only a matter of time before Regina would cast The Dark Curse. "I simply need you to find the girl and bring her to me without the Queen knowing." If Regina knew that her daughter was alive, she would be unable to fulfill her role and for Rumpelstiltskin that was unacceptable.

"Why would I do that? It sounds like too much risk for such a small reward." He had no reason to be on the wrong side of the Queen. Over the years she overcame her naivety to wield power and authority as easily as her name suggested. The two did business together from time to time and while she was certainly sly and selfish, she always honored her deals and he had a measure of respect for that. If she found out his role, not only would he lose one of his big sources of income, his family's life would be endangered. It didn't seem worth all the trouble.

"Cause I will give you the treasure you want. " He coyly answered.

That line no longer worked on Jefferson. Trying to appear above this sort of thing, he told him, "I'm already wealthy and with the royal passport I have some respectability. There is nothing that I want nor need."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you wanted needed a doctor. My mistake. I found a perfect one for your darling Grace, but if you're already happy -" He lifted his hands in a mock signal of surrender. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"Wait; you will find me a doctor for my daughter in exchange for Regina's child?" It sounded too good to be true.

"I already have the doctor that you need to save your daughter's life. I think the terms of the deal sounds rather fair, doesn't it?" If Rumpelstiltskin understood one thing about Jefferson is that he placed his family and himself above everyone else. He was almost as self-serving as his former teacher was. It gave the imp pride in seeing how well he could manipulate his pupils.

Jefferson thought the deal for a few minutes. While the offer was extremely tempting he always knew that Rumple's deals always work in the imp's favor. "I'll search for the child, but I'd like to amend the deal. I will give my best effort in finding the little one in exchange for the doctor. I'd like to be compensated for my efforts. That's my final offer."

Not entirely satisfied with his counter-offer, but unable to get someone else for the assignment, Rumple stood up and shook the hatter's hand. "Very well, my boy, we have a deal."


	3. Slip Through the Cracks

**Storybrooke -Sheriff's Station**

With the station to herself, Fiona decided to turn on the radio by her desk while she worked. She checked the department's voice message inbox. Ms. Ginger called about a suspicious woman hanging around her office. The last three times she checked out Ms. Ginger's 'helpful' sightings were complete wastes of her time, so Fiona scribbled a note on a post-it to check it out at a more convenient day.

Marco called to remind them that he would be in at 2pm to take care of their office clock as it had stopped working. Again. She wished that Graham would finally listen to her and just buy another clock. It was in their budget and their current one kept breaking down a few times a year. No one, but her seemed to noticed. That was one of the more frustrating parts of the curse - seeing patterns occur around the usually sleepy town, but being unable to stop them. Some days she felt as if she was going to go insane from seeing the same drama unfold over and over.

It cope with the infuriating patterns, she tried out different hobbies, learned new skills, and took classes at the local community college. This semester she was taking four classes, giving her just enough credits to considered a full time student. It certainly kept her busy, but it also helped to pass teh time. She discovered that she had an aptitude with math and certain sciences like chemistry. She used the classes to help improve her work as deputy.

Once the messages were all cleared out, Fiona went back to helping out Graham with their current robbery case. She decided that searching through old cases may give her an idea of where to look and who to examine further. Logging on to the computer, she narrowed the search to robberies and was surprised to see there were a few dozen cases. They were way too many to review before Graham got back, so she added another parameter to her search - jewelery. _There was no search option for swords_ she sneered to herself. She felt it was silly that in this day and age, she'd be hunting for a sword thief. _What a weirdo_ she thought.

Chopping off a few more cases with that last parameter, she tried to limit the search to recent ones. Off the top of her head, she couldn't recall any robberies like this one, but according to the screen in front of her there were three cases that fit the bill.

Reading the files, she noted that two of them were closed as the homeowners admitted to lying about the robberies to get money from insurance. The last one was also listed as closed, but unlike the others she couldn't find a reason why. Figuring that Graham must have forgotten to enter the missing data in the computer, she went to the cabinets to physically pull the case folder.

It was thin and had the exact same information as the computer, meaning there was no real reason she could find as to why this case was considered done. There were no notes or photos either. What puzzled her most was that this case was exactly the same as Mr. Gold's - a few valuable items like a rare clocks and pocket watches were taken, but more obvious targets like television or laptops were ignored or destroyed.

The one major difference was that instead of a pawn shop being robbed, it was the man's home, someone named Jefferson March. She couldn't understand why the file was so incomplete. This wasn't like Graham. She decided that she could get some answers from the gentleman and see if perhaps he had any more clues about the thieves.

She picked up the phone and called the number listed.

After two rings, someone picked up. "Hello?" A man she was assuming was Jefferson was on the other end. He sounded young, which seemed strange to her, considering what was stolen out of his home. Who keeps old time pocket watches, especially in this town she wondered. Leaving behind that thought she focused on her phone call.

She began her standard introduction. "Good morning sir. This is Deputy Kyle from the Sheriff's station. Is this Jefferson-"

He interrupted her. "Deputy! I've been expecting your call. Has there been any breakthroughs on my case? Have you found my family heirlooms?" He asked. His voice seemed eager to talk with someone and desperate for some good news. It sounded like Graham made a mistake with his paperwork. She felt bad that she had nothing positive to offer him.

Fiona decided she could get at least obtain some information from him and hopefully get his case properly started. "No, sir. I do not. However, I'd like to ask you a few questions about the break-in. Perhaps I can get a lead that would help us figure out where your precious items are."

He seemed a bit confused. "Sure. Ask me anything." He responded.

Right away, she grabbed her pad of paper along with a blue ballpoint pen and started her questions. "Were you home at the time of the break-in?"

"No."

"When did you realize you were robbed?"

"After coming home from my morning jog. I usually start before dawn and I get back around 6am." She scribbled down what he said.

"Could you please review all the items you can confirm are missing?"

"Wait! I gave all this information weeks ago with the Sheriff. Why don't you just pull up my case and see for yourself?"

Not wanting to put Graham in a bad light, she lied. "The Sheriff has the file in his desk which is locked. I could wait until he gets back, but I was hoping to assist him with solving your robbery since his case load has been so heavy."

The man on the other end of the line was quiet for a minute. "Alright, that makes sense, but I'd rather not do this over the phone Deputy Kyle. Do you mind meeting me at my place now? That would give me time to gather all of my notes and find a few photos of the stolen items."

Seeing as she really had nothing to do she responded, "That sounds reasonable. Mr.-"

"You can call me Jefferson." He told her. His tone was a bit friendlier and happier than she expected. After all, the department just ignored his case and he would have to go through the process over again. Still, it was better that Jefferson was in an affable mood.

The least she could do was meet the man at his house. "Okay Jefferson. I'm leaving the station now, see you in about 15, 20 minutes." With that she hung up the her jacket, she left a note on Graham's desk about where she was going. The sheriff could call Mr. March's house should he need her back sooner.

Putting the receiver down Jefferson smiled. It worked. He started cleaning up his place downstairs for his special guest. It had been forever since someone came inside his house for company. He usually had groceries delivered and once a month a maid came in to keep his home in a presentable condition. While they usually gave him a bit of small talk and town gossip, he really wasn't much a social person.

Considering what he knew about the people of this town, talking to others seemed rather pointless. Everyone here was a mindless puppet, with a false script about who they were and it just made him crazier trying to keep up with the big lie. The Curse not only took away his beloved daughter Grace, but to add insult to injury, his sanity was also damaged. Juggling the memories of the Enchanted Forest side by side with the bogus Storybrooke ones was almost impossible some days. He took medication as needed, but it didn't completely solve his problem.

Grabbing a pill, he gulped it as he ran upstairs to get dressed. Switching into his favorite outfit - black leather pants and a grey shirt with his black and grey scarf. Even though he was a bit crazy, he didn't want to look the part. He wanted to make the deputy to feel comfortable enough to trust him.

Jefferson had been watching Fiona since she got her job almost a year ago. He started watching her simply because of her beauty. He justified his watching as simply a lonely man enjoying eye-candy from afar. After a few months, though, he realized that she was special beyond her looks. Unlike the automatons that walked around town, repeating the same cycle of mistakes, she was adapting and changing. Going with a hunch, he decided to do some digging on her.

Paying off some people and doing some late night reconnaissance he discovered that he was right. She was here in the flesh. He had laughed last month when he got his confirmation. Regina's daughter made it to Storybrooke.


	4. Land of Isen

**The Enchanted Forest**

Before leaving to complete his assignment, Jefferson stopped by his home to check up on his daughter Grace. Even though he didn't fully trust his mentor, Rumpelstiltskin did buy him time by using some of his magic to slow down her mysterious ailment. Giving her the elixir, he noticed that she was sleeping more often, but her fever and pains substantially lessened. The imp said that as soon as he had Rose in his arms or proof that Jefferson made a diligent search, he would send in the best healer in the land.

* * *

Stuck with no other option, Jefferson spent much time on the lookout for the child. He literally was working with nothing though. When the imp caught the fairy, Rumplestiltskin knew the girl had to be in their realm because fairies can't travel between lands. All Jefferson really had was her age, just a year older than Grace.

He had no name to go on - neither the girl's current one nor the adoptive parents'. He was sure they changed the child's name to something other than Rose Red.

Besides having to struggle with such limited information, he also had to be careful on how he conducted his search. To get an idea of where she could be, he had to request village records about births and that always got people nervous. Most times it was because villagers feared that information could be used to impose additional taxes.

He avoided Regina's kingdom for obvious reasons. If needed he would search her land, but he had to save it until last. To begin his search, he looked at the most likely area the girl could possibly be in - King George's province. However that didn't prove to be as smart of a move than he thought, knights were dispatched to apprehend him as word of his inquiries reached King George.

Dodging them narrowly, he decided to lay off the King's territory for now and look westward, to the land of Isen.

* * *

Searching the land of Isen was proving to be easier than he anticipated. Though small and less wealthy than the other kingdoms, the people were certainly more organized. The area was grouped into territories ruled by clans. Every three years each family shared updates of births, deaths, and marriages.

These clans did a meticulous job with their records as Jefferson discovered while visiting the village recorder. Mia was a grandmotherly type who had extensive knowledge of everyone in the clan it seemed. He befriended her by lying, saying that he was historian who wanted to be the first to document the land of Isen to those back home in The Enchanted Forest.

From the insightful record-keeper he learned that the clan council used the records to make sure war spoils were distributed properly and that lineage to heirs could be referenced quickly. He was currently in the territory overseen by Clan Alda, one of the more powerful ones.

Over the next couple of days he spent time poring over the records and chatted with the woman, hoping to gain some clues or insights as to where Rose could be.

It amazed him at how well organized the clans were, each family running their own household and in turn giving 15% to the clan treasury to pay for mutual benefits such as roads, financial assistance for those widowed and orphaned by the war with the Ogres, and schools for all children.

Unfortunately he also learned that there were no such word for 'adopted child' in their vocabulary. A child, whether by blood or foreign birth, was accepted as a full member. That meant that Jefferson had to dig through the dates to see if he could come up with a reasonable list of daughters to check out and investigate further.

As he sat at the desk in the records room, he scribbled his notes. The hospitable woman came in to bring his a meal of venison stew, some bread, and a mug of beer. Taking a break, he thanked her and they continued their conversation from earlier that morning.

"So you're saying women aren't allowed to rule unless a man is by her side?" she asked. "Yes. All the kingdoms in The Enchanted Forest are ruled by men. With the exception of Queen Regina; her husband died recently and so she is governing in his place."

It was sort of incredible to Jefferson to see how quickly the Queen took over. Sensing things were different in this part of the world, he inquired. "How about Isen? I take it women can rule."

"Of course! The eldest child, male or female, of the clean leader is assumed to be heir, unless someone challenges them. Individual households run themselves as they see fit." She spoke as it was simply how all in the world should work. He found it fascinating. If circumstances were different, he would've loved to take his family here. They were a bit unconventional and he saw his wife as an equal, more than capable of running things.

"Thank you for that tidbit. I'll be sure to include in my book." He finished up his stew. "That was delicious Mia, the best stew I've ever had. I must get the recipe before I leave." Putting on the charm, he kissed her hand affectionately. "If only to remember you and your kindness." The older woman blushed at his compliment and took his empty dishes.

"My pleasure." Looking over his shoulder, she recognized how far he had gotten with his work. "I see that you are just about finished with the last of Clan Vol's records. You're working much faster than I anticipated. I have to dig up the next set of records in the back. Why don't you go for a walk and come back in an hour? It's a beautiful day and I'd hate for you to be locked up here doing nothing. I should have everything ready for you when you return."

The offer sounded reasonable to him and so he packed his papers in his satchel and went outside for some much needed fresh air.

* * *

It was indeed a pleasant day outside with not a cloud in the sky. He decided to go to the toy cart he had passed yesterday to get a gift for Grace once he returned home. It was only a matter of time before he would find the missing girl and his daughter would be saved.

As he approached the vendor a well armored man approached him, sword sheathed but still looking threatening. "Sir, I need you to come with me. Lady Emyn would like to speak to you privately about your research." He said calmly and firmly.

Jefferson did his best to remain composed. He knew that whatever the lady wanted did not bode well for him. "I'd rather not. Now if you excuse me…" He tried to pass the guard, but he was blocked. He glanced around to see and picked up on a few more men and women dressed similarly and just as armed as this guard in his way.

Immediately he threw his satchel up as a distraction and started running in the opposite direction. All the guards then started chasing after him.

Being pursued so closely didn't give Jefferson an opportunity to open a portal and make an escape. Instead he raced around the village, hoping to find a hiding spot. Rounding a corner, Jefferson almost impaled himself on the sword of one of the hunters. With a snarl the tall, brawny man warned him, "Move and I'll kill you."

* * *

Jefferson was taken in custody and loaded into the back of a wagon. Thankfully, it wasn't long trip. He was escorted inside the halls of a small, but respectable palace and was lead to the lady's war chamber. Guards parted as he was escorted to his destination.

Lady Emyn was seated at her throne, poised and firm, steady in her gaze. The guards positioned him a few feet in front of her. As she stood up to get a closer look at him, Jefferson saw that she was much taller than he guessed. It was so afraid of what she was going to do to him, he would've appreciated her statuesque beauty.

Her frosty blue eyes inspected him for what seemed like an eternity. Finally she spoke. "Our record-keeper Mia told me that you had been going through our records extensively, particularly the ones with information about our children. Why?"

_So much for charming that old woman_ he snidely thought. Keeping his cover, he told her. "I'm a historian and collector of sorts and I thought it would be a great chance to visit your land and learn of your people so I could share it back home. There are many myths about Isen and seek to clear them up." Pointing to the guards he quipped, "I see that the tales of your paranoia are true."

She wasn't amused by his flippant remark. "We're only leery of untrustworthy visitors like yourself." She raised her hand and the burly guard to his left pulled out his sword and placed it by Jefferson's neck. "I know you're not a historian. Now you have only one more chance to tell me the truth, why you are here?" She was in no mood for games.

Nervous that his life was on the line and he wouldn't be able to save his daughter, he thought of a half-truth on the fly. "You're right. I'm not here to write about your people. I seek a child that was kidnapped. Her mother wants to her returned to her rightful home." He hoped the cold woman would buy the story. As it was sort of the truth, he felt that maybe it would be more convincing.

Lady Emyn looked away for a moment and he was frightened that his lie didn't work. Seeing as he had nothing to lose he continued, "I believe that the young one is here and I've been sent to retrieve her. Peacefully."

The woman took in what he said, but gave no indication as to whether or not she believed him. "What is the child's name?" she asked neutrally.

He answered. "Rose Red, but I must believe that her adoptive parents gave her a new one when they stole her." While he didn't want to accuse one of her countrymen of snatching a baby, he had to stick to his part if he was to make it out alive.

She again processed what he said, but this time she motioned the guard to put his sword back. Jefferson exhaled out of relief. He still had his head.

The woman spoke to him, slightly less threateningly, but still with the air of authority. "We will aid you in your search. If you give Mia all the information you have on the girl, we will locate the family and discuss arrangements."

Not really trusting this sudden change of heart, he politely protested. "My lady, I think it would be best if I handled this situation myself. This a delicate matter and I think it would be better for all involved if I-"

Just then a door behind them swung open and a raven haired girl sprinted into the room, with barely a pause for the guards. Her hair looked like it was carefully and neatly braided before it was became frayed and loosed by whatever activity the girl had just engaged in. "Mama! Guess what? I mastered my first jump on Thunder!" Her smile was easily spread across her face, obviously pleased with herself.

She finally stopped to look around, confused by what was going on, and Jefferson got an unobstructed look at the child. Jefferson gasped at his discovery. There was no doubt in his mind who she was. All of her features with the exception of her eyes looked like a mini version of Regina. He found the very child he was looking for. He found Rose Red.


	5. Mad House on the Hill

**Storybrooke - Jefferson's Manor**

He was pacing his lavish kitchen nervously. Jefferson was planning on warming the deputy up before bringing up what he really wanted to talk about. However as she was coming up the road, he spied through his telescope that Graham was leaving Mr. Gold's shop and getting in his cruiser to head back to the station.

No doubt that puppet of a sheriff would call his master when he found out Deputy Kyle came to see him up here on the hill.

As he raced downstairs to greet her at the front door, he knew that Regina would have Graham get the young woman to come back. The Mayor did a meticulous job at isolating him from the rest of the town and he knew that his case being dropped had nothing to do with a police mistake. Regina made her Sheriff drop has his heart he guessed. It disgusted him to see how far she fallen.

He knew that Regina had forbade him from having any real contact with the townspeople below, but this chance to escape the curse was too good of an opportunity to pass up. He was going to risk the former Queen's wrath.

When he first met the Queen she was an innocent and lovestruck woman, easy to manipulate. Trying to get her true love brought back to life, she was desperate to get Jefferson's help. He brought Dr. Frankenstein to her and with a bit of showmanship and some lies, she was convinced that there was no hope for her love or was all Rumpelstiltskin's plan and like many of them, it went exactly as planned. Rumple's plan worked too well in Jefferson's opinion. Besides him and Regina, Jefferson wondered how many lives were ruined by The Dark One.

Still, he prided himself in knowing that he wasn't completely corrupted by that twisted little imp. He named his daughter Grace for a reason, she gave him hope and motivated him to become a better person. If it was for Regina, they would still be together. He felt his anger pushing against his chest at the last thought. He hated Regina and all that she became.

Ironically she became just like her mother Cora, yanking hearts and playing people as if they were toys, to be discarded when no longer fun to mess around with. He wondered how many hearts she had in her vault now. He had no idea where it was in town, but he knew that she couldn't just leave that much power behind in their old land.

Hearing the sound of a car come up the private road, Jefferson's mind turned again to the deputy. Stalking her, he knew that Fiona still had her heart even though she was hanging around the mayor the past year. That was an accomplishment and part of him wondered if Regina had any suspicion of who she was spending time with. Reflecting on the pair's interactions with one another gave him a twisted bit of pleasure.

Right under her nose.

Shaking his head he knew that Regina didn't have a clue. If the Mayor had an inkling that Fiona was her daughter, than the girl would be on lock-down from him (and probably most of the town). Sad thing was Regina had no clue who Fiona really was, but she already was a beginning to be a bit possessive with her.

From his home, he tracked almost everything and noticed how she kept tabs on her new deputy, both out of lack of trust and some sort of neediness that she had developed. If he didn't hate her so much, he would pity her sad attempts at making a human connection.

When Fiona's police cruiser finally made it to his house, Jefferson welcomed her as if she was an old friend coming for a visit. After exchanging polite greetings, he led her to the living room where they could go over the case in detail.

Admiring her up close, he saw that she definitely favored the female side of her family. The deputy had large and warm hazel eyes that he had to appreciate for a moment. Her full lips were pinkish red and her dark hair almost looked as black as night. She had her wavy hair up to look older than she was, but he already knew that it was long and silky.

As she walked, couldn't help but notice that she was extremely fit and her walk was just like her mother's - purposeful with an alluring sway.

Focusing on the task was going to be much harder than he thought….

* * *

**Storybrooke - Sheriff's Station**

The sheriff pulled into the station and quickly noticed that his partner's car was missing. It was too early in the day for a break, so he wondered if another case came up. Walking inside he saw that she had been working at her desk. It was nice to know that he could trust his partner to stay busy with police work.

Putting his jacket up, he saw a note on his desk. After reading twice, he released a sigh. The deputy had went to Jefferson's house on the hill and was planning on coming back as soon as the interview was over.

Regina is not going to like this. He knew that he was supposed to call the Mayor if Jefferson ever contacted anybody, but he didn't want his partner to get chewed out by her. He always thought Regina was overreacting about the eccentric man. Nobody really believed him and as of late he had been pretty low key, only coming in town to get some supplies and meet with Dr. Hopper as a part of his treatment.

As he thought of Fiona as the little sister he never had, he made a judgment call to leave the Mayor out of it. For now he'd let her get Jefferson's statement as it could be helpful. He trusted Fiona to do her job. If she didn't come back soon then he'd go out and get her himself.

* * *

**Storybrooke - Jefferson's Manor**

Jefferson and Fiona got through the interview quickly and he handed over some photos he printed out of the missing items. She thanked him for being so cooperative and started to leave. Looking around, she complimented, "You have a beautiful house." She wasn't entirely sure of the electric decor, but it couldn't be denied that this house was one of the most opulent in Storybrooke.

"Thank you. I just wish I didn't have it all to myself." He gave her a grin and a wink, but she ignored it.

He had seemed a bit too friendly with her for her own taste and Fiona wanted to keep this professional. "Thank you so much for hospitality Jefferson. I promise to get this information processed as soon as I get back at the station. I'm sorry that you had to go through this interview again."

"I'm more than happy to chat with you anytime." He flirted. It had been years since he attempted to make such a move on a woman, so he hoped the charm would still work. Unfortunately for him, the deputy seemed determined to keep everything professional and strictly about the case. He was running out of time. As they got to the foyer he took a shot, "How does it feel to be the only one?"

Confused by his question, she gave her own, "What do you mean?"

His smile got a bit more eerie. "You know what I mean Fiona."

Thinking he was referring to her being the only full time deputy, she replied. "It's a nice gig with Sheriff Humbert. Hours are reasonable, the pay is fair."

"No, Fiona. I mean, how does it feel to be the only one aging in this town?" With that he walked around as if he was inspecting a fragile object he was thinking of buying.

She was taken aback by the comment. She never had anybody noticed that she aged, especially not someone she had just that he knew about her partial immunity to the curse yet not knowing how, she started panicking. Thinking of a way to gain information from him. "What are you talking about Jefferson?" She was playing dumb. There was no need to go ahead and give up her hand.

Appreciating her need for caution, Jefferson opened a drawer and pulled out more photos. At first Deputy Kyle wondered if he had more pictures of the stolen goods, but when he handed them over she saw that they were her school photos. They were from middle school on to graduation.

"How did you get these?!" She was upset. When she took the job at the deputy's office she destroyed all the photos from the school's storage as a precaution.

"As you may have noticed, I do have some money to play around with. Long story short, I've seen that you're different Fiona. And I think we can help one another."

Shaking her head in disbelief she looked at back the photos, wishing she had never taken them. Her foolish wish as a kid was that the curse would be broken one day and she'd share the pictures with her family. Now she saw how vulnerable she made herself.

"You look just like your mother when I first met her." He blurted to her. He tried to make it sound comforting, but it instead confused and agitated her.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

He could tell she wasn't ready to hear the bombshell of who her family was, so he focused on the bigger picture. He hoped it would easier to handle. He continued."The Curse doesn't have a complete hold on you. You're special, but not enough. You've tried to break your family out of it, but you can't seem to snap anybody out of its effects." He didn't hide his disappointment. Holding her hands, he got her attention and he focused his baby blue eyes on her. "I know how hard it's been. I've tried to do the same with my daughter and I failed. But together we may be able to break it."

Completely freaked out by his confession of staking her, she pushed him away. "Don't you dare touch me!"

His window of opportunity was closing fast and he became more desperate to get her to believe. "Please let me explain, I remember and I think you do too. About our lives before coming to this land. I know who you are Fiona. Your real family."

Feeling that her privacy was invaded enough she corrected him. "My birth parents are dead." Her adoptive parents had told her so and they gave her no reason to doubt them.

"They said that to protect you." He rebutted. This conversation was not going quite like he envisioned.

"I'm sure they did." She sarcastically replied. Not wanting to believe that her mom and dad lied to her, Fiona headed out the door to get inside her car. Jefferson followed and grabbed her arm, "Your mother is still alive and in Storybrooke."

Those words stopped her cold and she looked back at him. He finally piqued her interest.

Sadly that's when Graham came up the driveway and got out of his car.

Regina's lap dog Jefferson thought. "Good morning Sheriff. So glad to see that my case is finally getting the attention it deserves." He sarcastically noted.

Sheriff Humbert maintained his friendly demeanor and responded. "I came up here to grab my deputy. I hope you don't mind. We have plenty of work to do."

Glancing at her, Jefferson answered, "Not at all. We were just finishing." He shook Fiona's hand and whispered, "We'll talk again."


	6. Break in the Case

It was Ladies Night at The Rabbit Hole which meant Ruby reserved a table for all for the 'crew' which consisted of her, Mary Margaret, Fiona, and Ashley.

Seeing as she was here for some girl time, she wore her dark washed jeans with a purple mesh tank and her black leather jacket. Ashley was there, looking cute in her fire engine red maternity dress. She was the designated driver (like always). Ruby matched with a slinky red dress, showing more skin than the rest of the group and having the confidence to flaunt her great shape.

Mary Margaret looked a bit out of place with her floral dress and white sweater at the bar, but then again the mild mannered teacher didn't really want to be here as the bar wasn't her scene. She was a bit more reserved than her buddies. Like Fiona, Ruby had to beg Mary Margaret to come out and have some fun with her tonight.

The waitress had broken up with Billy (again) and she needed to some support from her buddies. The four of them agreed to meet up for a couple of hours.

Now that Ruby and the mechanic weren't together, she wanted to catch up with what was going on with her girls. Ashley was sharing her latest update from her obstetrician. "Dr. Lambert says she'll be here any day now." Fiona watched as the other two women assured her that her darling baby would be in her arms. The deputy remained silent, only nodding in agreement. This was just one of those times she hated being aware of the Curse. She couldn't muster up even a consolation because she knew it was a lie.

She couldn't help, but wonder how Jefferson coped with it. While Graham caught her up on the town's gossip that the man on the hill was mentally unstable, she was curious to meet him again and find out what he knew. Part of it was to find out about her birth parents. He mentioned that he knew Fiona's mother and when he said that she reminded him of her, she felt as if she swallowed a weight.

Before today, she never gave much thought to her biological family. Her adoptive parents and family were the ones that raised her and when they said that her birth parents died she had complete faith in them.

Sure she had times when she wondered who they were and how they died, but she never lingered on such thoughts like she did today. She actually took several bathroom breaks just to use the mirror to try and guess what features she had from her biological mother. She knew it was ridiculous, but she couldn't help herself.

Graham had to send her home early because she was hardly getting anything done. She used the time to start a list of possible contenders for her birth mother, but quickly ripped it apart. It somehow felt disrespectful to her adoptive mother.

* * *

Now at The Rabbit Hole she was starting to worry about what Jefferson knew. She finished her white russian and motioned the bartender that she'd like a refill.

"Whoa, there deputy. You're putting me to shame." Ruby had to rag on her friend. "Isn't that your 3rd and you want another one. We haven't been here an hour yet. We got to pace ourselves." She joked.

Mary Margaret pipped in, "Are you alright? You've hardly said a word tonight."

"Yeah, I'm good. It's just…this case has gotten me stressed out." She offered; she had no plans to tell them the truth.

"I can't even imagine." Ruby shook her head "I can't believe someone was stupid enough to steal from Mr. Gold."

Ashley sipped on her Coke. "Maybe they are just ballsy." She muttered. For some reason she never cared for the man, but Fiona didn't know why. As far as she knew the two have never really met.

The waitress continued the conversation. "I heard that the same person or persons stole from the crazy guy on the hill. Jefferson I think."

Fiona confirmed the rumor. "That appears to be the case. I interviewed him this morning. Everything seems to point in that direction." She got up for a moment to get her drink from the bar and came back to her seat.

"What is he like? I've seen him at the diner when he goes there for lunch after meeting with Dr. Hopper. Is he as insane as they say? He keeps to himself when he eats." Ruby loved town gossip (with the exception of the gossip about herself) and found it handy with having the deputy as a friend and information source. She felt so in the loop.

"No, he was eccentric maybe, but not loony. Kind of like Johnny Depp." Her friends stared at her oddly, so she asked, "What?"

Mary Margaret smirked, "Sounds like he made an impression on you." The others started laughing and Fiona felt her cheeks grow warm. Now she was at a loss for words.

After the laughter died down a few minutes later, Ruby composed herself. "I wouldn't let the Mayor know how you feel. She kind of hates him from what I hear." With mention of Mayor Mills the table got awkwardly quiet. While everyone was certainly happy she was a deputy and worked with Sheriff Humbert, they were a little uneasy with Fiona's association with Regina. Mayor Mills had a reputation for being ruthless at times and while the young lady hadn't changed her sweet demeanor they secretly worried that the older woman would rub off on her.

"Don't worry about me. Graham warned me about Jefferson. This is strictly professional. He may have information that could help us to break the case." She assured them. She appreciated everyone looking out for her, but she wasn't a child. She went back to her drink, hoping they'd changed the subject, but she had no such luck.

Ruby was ribbing her a bit. "He is kind of handsome. But now that now he's spoken for, I won't make a move."

Fiona's cheeks went red again and the table had another round of laughs erupted at their table. She tried to work the conversation back to the case. "He's just a victim, nothing more. But since we are mentioning the break-ins, could I ask you guys if any of you noticed anything usual lately?"

The group groaned, but obliged to her request. "Sorry, Fi. I've been home grading papers this week. I've seen anything." Mary Margaret shared. Ashley also nodded her head no. "I wish I could help, but this is the first night out I'm up past 10pm. I'm just so exhausted with the baby."

Ruby didn't say anything; she seemed to be thinking about something.

"Did you see anything Ruby?" Fiona asked.

"Maybe…" Her voice trailed off for a beat before she recalled something. "When I came home last night from here, I did see three men with duffel bags loading their truck a block away from Gold's shop. I think it was a white F-150. It didn't seem like a big deal, but now that I think about it, it was too late to load up."

"What time was it?" The deputy stopped drinking and paid attention to her friend.

Scratching her head, Ruby guessed. "Karaoke just finished, so maybe 1:30am or 2am?"

"Can you stop by tomorrow to make a statement?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'll ask Granny to let me off early once the morning rush is over." She was thrilled that she had something useful to offer. "Did I solve the case?" She squealed.

"Too early to say, but we'd appreciate it." Suddenly inspired with Ruby's observation, she got up, throwing some cash on the table. "Drinks are on me tonight. I got to stop by the station and see if we have any records for a white pick-up. I'll see you tomorrow!" She left The Rabbit Hole and headed towards the station.

She tried jogging, but it was making her dizzy so she settled for a fast walk. She grabbed her keys from her purse as she approached the locked doors, but she stumbled when her foot missed the sidewalk. Her keys slid on the road and went under one of the parked cruisers. Huffing, she got her belly to try and fished them out.

"Is everything ok, Miss Kyle?" Mayor Mills asked.

Surprised Fiona instinctively jerked her head up and bumped it against the car. "Yes, ma'am. I'm just trying to retrieve my keys." She pushed herself just a bit more forward and snagged her keys with her pinky and dragged herself out. Standing up, she saw the mayor look at her, concerned and bothered by something.

The younger woman dusted herself off a bit, trying to look like less of a mess in front of her boss' boss. "I may have gotten a lead on the case and I wanted to check some records."

Wrinkling her nose, Regina inquired. "And where did you find this lead deputy?"

Not catching her drift, Fiona answered. "I was just out with some friends and Ruby mentioned that she saw some men by Mr. Gold's shop around the time of the burglary."

"Ah, Ruby. I take it you were at The Rabbit Hole just a few minutes ago." She sarcastically noted. "Are you sure you want to use her statement without corroborating it?"

How dare she talk like that about my friend she thought. Fiona hated this side of the Mayor- judging others and acting all superior. "We're all adults and it's after work so I don't see how it's any of your business." She snapped. The deputy then unlocked the doors and went inside. She kept walking until she got into her desk and booted up her computer.

She heard the clacking of heels and knew the Mayor was joining her inside.

Taking a seat by Fiona's desk she rested her arm on the flat surface and soften her tone from earlier. "I didn't mean to offend you. I saw you stumble and so I came over to make sure you weren't hurt." Being very careful with her next words she added, "I also smelled alcohol on you and was worried you may have had a just a bit too much to drink. I was just double checking, that's all."

"As you can see I'm fine. I was just eager to get started on this lead. Can't have a gang of thieves running around town." Looking at Regina, she addressed her mentor's real concern. "The case has been a bit stressful and I may have had one too many drinks, but I'm fine. Really." She knew Regina was acting out of concern, but she still felt like a child being chided by her mother.

Mayor Mills got up and patted her on the back. "Good to know. I'll leave you to your work then. I'll lock up behind myself." And with that she left.

Now that she was alone, Fiona dove right into her work.


	7. Delicate Negotiations

**Isen**

Jefferson was stuck inside a small cell in the dungeon, awaiting his fate from Lady Emyn and recalling the events that happened hours ago.

When her adopted daughter came in and he recognized her as Regina's daughter, the Lady had the girl immediately taken to out the room. She then had her soldiers restrain him.

Getting in his face she asked, "What is your reward for the return of the child? I know you're not the type to do this out of the goodness of your heart. What was the price offered to you?"

He was caught off guard for a moment. He stammered with his answer. "I'm sorry, my lady, you couldn't afford it."

Emyn was used to outsiders underestimating her people's wealth, so she asked again. "Last time - what was offered for the child? Land? Title? Gold?" She rattled off the common incentives that motivated people to do almost anything. There was no way she would give Fiona up. If she had to bribe away half her kingdom, so be it.

Doubting that she would really let him go free, he weighed his options. He noted her earlier response as a parent and played that card again. "I was offered the best doctor for my daughter. She's dying." He allowed the ruler to absorb what he said, hoping his life would be spared.

Instead, Lady Emyn instructed her guards, "Take him to the dungeons. I need time to decide what to do with him."

* * *

Once the spy was removed and safely imprisoned, Lady Emyn went to the other part of her palace. Scared that her daughter had been discovered, she felt the need to personally check on Fiona. Practically bounding up the stairs and running through the halls, she stopped by her daughter's room and knocked on the door.

Recognizing her mother's rhythmic knock, the little girl opened the door. "Mama, why are you here? I thought you said you were busy."

Without saying a word, the ruler picked up her child and gave her a bear hug as she carried her to the bed on the other side of the room. She sat midway on the bed and placed her little one down so she laid on the pillows. "I just missed you and I wanted to check up on you."

Grinning at her mother, Fiona responded. "I'm good; I was reading a story." Her hazel eyes looked up at her mother. "I'm sorry that I interrupted your meeting Mama. I just wanted to tell you how well I did today with Thunder." Picking up where she left off, she started recounting with gestures how she learned to jump with her horse.

Emyn watched Fiona, simultaneously proud to her little one's accomplishment and getting sick at the thought that someone wanted to steal her precious baby. There had to be some way to get rid of him. While she didn't completely trust him, some of his words rang to true in her heart and she didn't want to rush to judgment.

She remembered that this outsider claimed that his daughter was ill, perhaps Linus would be able to help her.

For now, though, he would stay in the dungeon until she could get some real answers. Either way, it was going to be a long night for her, but for now, she was going to enjoy the company of her daughter as she was setting up her tea party set for her mother.

* * *

Jefferson heard the dungeon's doors open and three men came in, two guards and a man dressed more casually, but having the air of being in charge. Jefferson noted that he a head taller than he was. The man was wearing a blue tunic that was fitted enough to let the Hatter know he was athletic. He also had a tray of food in his hands.

"Good morning. I brought breakfast in case you were hungry." He jovially greeted.

Not amused, but famished Jefferson snatched the tray and started eating. It was a hearty meal - sausage, eggs, a piece of bread with some chocolate gravy. When he was finished the man spoke. "I want to see if you were up to a counter-offer.

Looking around his cell the hatter snidely remarked. "Do I have a choice?"

"Of course, you do. I just hope you make the right one. Where both of us are happy."

"And what would that be?"

"We get your daughter healed and I keep mine."

"You can't guarantee me that. Only the best doctor can even hope to try." He sighed thinking about all the doctors he's already used and who have failed. "Believe, I tried." He rubbed her temples. It was pointless, only his former mentor Rumpelstiltskin could help him as much as he hated to admit.

"You're in luck. I am the doctor that you seek. " He bowed. "What I propose is that you give me the opportunity to care for your ill daughter and if I succeed you make no mention of my daughter's location to your master. I think that's rather fair, don't you?"

"And what if you can't help her?"

"Well, then we'll have to decide if it comes to that. For now, I'm confident this can be a mutually beneficial arrangement."

Wanting to be away from this place Jefferson held out his hand. "Very well, if we use my hat we can be there in an instant."

"No, I don't trust you to not escape. I'll keep the hat for now. We'll travel by horse to your home." Linus figured if the deal went south he may have to use the hat itself as a bartering tool. Better to have some leverage with something like this.

Seeing as he had no other choice, he asked, "When do you we leave?"

Throwing Jefferson a bag of provisions, he answered, "Right now."


	8. Spontaneous Plans

**Storybrooke**

Heading to her lunch, Fiona was feeling pretty good about her day so far. During her search late last night she was able to get a list of trucks that fit the description Ruby gave. The waitress had stopped by to record an official statement about what she saw and to talk to a sketch artist. Graham was impressed with his deputy's diligence, which made her feel much better since she was so distracted yesterday afternoon.

Now, though, she was about to be tested again as she was meeting Jefferson in a few minutes, this time downtown.

He called her around midnight last night to apologize for scaring her and said he wanted to make it up. He had protested her idea of being at the cafe saying that the Mayor would find out, but she stood her ground and said that the cafe had to be the venue. She trusted Graham so she had her guard up in case this guy was pulling her leg.

As she walked up to their table, he had her lunch ready for her - a Philly steak sub with fries and tangy ranch. Jefferson saw the deputy approach him and he stood up. "Glad you could make it." He said warmly.

Like a gentleman he got the chair for her. She couldn't help, but notice that his sandy brown hair was perfectly unkempt and his blue eyes had a twinkle to them, making him seem a bit younger than he was.

Accepting his lunch offer, she said,"Thank you." Even though she was anxious to hear what he had to say, Fiona's hunger got the best of her and she started eating right away. While she was leery of eating or drinking at his home yesterday, she figured that he wouldn't try anything in public. At least that's what she hoped.

Trying to put her at ease, Jefferson started off with an apology. "I'm sorry if I worried you yesterday. I know I must have came across as some of kind of stalker."

"Yeah, I think the photo collection of me placed you squarely in that category." She didn't want him to think that behavior wasn't even remotely kosher.

He accepted her barb, knowing that he deserved it. "I got ahead of myself. I was excited because you're the only person in this town who knows how it feels to be trapped." His face relaxed a little and he leaned in. "Plus it's been a while since I've had a beautiful woman over at my place.

She tried not to blush, but failed. Now is not the time to play around. She wanted answers from him, not a flirt session. She went ahead and took control of their discussion. "How did you find out about the curse?"

"Well if you want to jump right in, we can do that." He preferred it actually. There was no telling when they would be interrupted once word got out of their chat. "Long story short - my punishment here is different from everyone else. I remember my life back in The Enchanted Forest. Like you, I had to watch my loved ones not recognized me for who I truly am. It's been a slow torture to say the least. Day after day, seeing the puppets moving around the stage. Nothing really changing. But together we may be able to break the curse and get them back."

"How?"

He got to the gist of his plan. "We have to defeat The Evil Queen." He pointed at her. " You have something very special Fiona, you have her trust. That's a huge advantage that we can use against-"

"No." Fiona said at once.

"No?" Jefferson was expecting such a knee jerk response from her. "How could you say that? Regina has hurt everyone here by taking us away from the things and people we love. Are have you forgotten your life in The Enchanted Forest, with your family? Don't tell me that these modern conveniences and your new standing in town have made you feel sympathy for her."

Fiona stiffened at what he said. "You have no right to say that to me. Of course, I'd like my family back." There hadn't been a day that went by when she wondered how she could break this curse and be reunited with her family, to have them remember how things were before. But she didn't feel comfortable betraying the Mayor. It wasn't in her nature. "But you want to use me against Regina and I'm not willing to do that." While she wouldn't call the Mayor her best friend, being able to see Regina up close this past year gave her an opportunity to think of her in a different light. Strange as it may have sounded, some days she even forgot that this was the same woman that cursed them all.

"Do tell me that you trust her? She's a snake Fiona. Believe me, I've been bitten by her." He hated Regina more with every passing day, knowing that his daughter Grace was not with him, but with another family. He could certainly respect the young deputy's loyalty, but it was woefully misplaced. "She's not your friend."

Fiona had enough of this nonsense."And you are? I'm supposed to trust someone I've known for 24 hours over a person that has done nothing, but help me? Give me a break." She tried to explain how she felt about the situation. "I know she's done a terrible thing with the curse, but you have to admit, she has been running the town pretty well so far. Perhaps she's changed."

"If you truly believe that, then by all means tell her your secret and how the curse isn't completely affecting you." He watched her face fall at that suggestion and knew that she didn't completely trust Regina. Now he had a better idea on how to convince her to join him.

* * *

**Mayor's Office**

Sidney handed a list to Regina. She couldn't help but scowl at him for his failure. "That's the best you have?"

He nervously shrugged. "That's not really anything to go on right now. I took the lead you stole…erm,,,um gave me from the sheriff's office, but nothing came up."

Standing up from her seat, Regina gave him a hard glare. "You have disappointed me Sidney. You've brought me nothing of value and wasted my time. I don't want to see your face again until you get me something substantial. Is that understood?"

"I-I'll keep looking." He got up and left her office quickly.

Regina settled back into her chair. She was hoping Sidney would've found something useful. When she discovered that Gold's shop was robbed, she immediately inserted herself into the investigation, having the sheriff reporting all progress to her. It fell within her rights as Mayor so Graham didn't object; he took it as a sign of her commitment to the town. The truth was far more personal. Throughout the curse she made it her prerogative to keep a close eye on the cursed persona of her former mentor. She knew that Rumpelstiltskin had a way with loopholes and she had to be sure that this robbery was some distraction or trick on his part.

Her phone started ringing and Regina was going to let her secretary pick it up until she remembered that Ms. Carson was out for lunch. "Mayor Mills. How can I help you?" She greeted.

"Mayor Mills, I'm so glad I caught you! It's Ms. Ginger." Regina rolled her eyes. The old woman had a penchant for long rambling conversations.

She tried to get off teh line as soon as she could. "I'm sorry Ms. Ginger, I only have a minute. I have an important meeting to go to." She lied.

"Well, this won't take long. I'm in my office right now, having lunch at my desk. When I saw the strangest thing outside my window."

"Let me guess, you're seeing a suspicious woman around the office?" She sighed.

"No, that crazy man from the hill, Jefferson is eating lunch at the cafe across the street from me." Regina raised her brows. It had been awhile since he last visited as he had his food and other household items delivered at his home. Being considered a pariah pushed him further into being a loner so she was curious as why he was back. Since Graham had dropped his case, Jefferson should've gotten the hint to stay away.

"Are you sure it's him?"

"I'm 100% sure. He's sitting there with the deputy. They're chatting." She paused to see if she share anything more."Hmmm…looks like they're really getting into it."

Regina froze. What are they doing together? She ended her conversation curtly. "I'll come over to make sure everything is ok." She said as she hung up, walked out of her office,and towards her car.

* * *

**Cafe**

He quickly decided to soften his plan to break the curse into something more palatable. "I'd be willing to consider another option if you have one. We can talk about this later, once you've had time to think about it."

She leaned back against her chair, thinking about his proposal and he smiled. At least she's back to hearing me out. Thinking of how he could persuade her, he mentioned her family. "Look, I have a daughter, Grace, who means the world to me. But here in this land, she's called Grace and she is living with another family. It breaks my heart everyday knowing that she is not with me. I just want her back. I know you want to get your aunt back to who she was too. If we work together Fiona we can save everybody. Maybe we can do it without harming Regina."

That sounded reasonable to the young deputy. If they could get their lives back without violence, it could be feasible.

While Mayor Mills usually was delighted at seeing odd couples pair up here in Storybrooke, having these two meet up made her nervous. She slammed the door of her car and she walked to the cafe to see for herself what was going on.

There was no real reason why the two would meet up. Her skin began to crawl just thinking about the deputy meeting with Jefferson. He was a dangerous man and she wondered if it was a mistake for him to keep his memories from his old life.

Jefferson noticed Regina's black Mercedes was parked and figured she was spying on them. Not wanting her to come between his only opportunity to get his daughter back, he decided to throw the Mayor off. Since they were already speaking in low tones, the deputy was leaning close to him. As soon as he caught a glimpse of Regina's black jacket, he moved in and kissed Fiona.

Her lips were soft and he felt a spark from their physical connection. He then realized that she was kissing back instead of breaking it. The artificial became real as he lingered thinking about how good it felt.

"Deputy!" Regina's stunned call broke up the kiss and the three of them were lost for words for about a minute.

With both women stunned, Jefferson took his leave. "I hope you find the culprit deputy. I'd love to have my heirlooms back." Looking at Regina, he said "Always a pleasure to see you Madam Mayor." He walked away towards his midnight blue Audi TT.

After he drove off, Regina turned to Fiona. The younger woman was still dumbstruck but was slowly shaking herself out of his spell. "Mayor Mills what are you doing here?"

Lying Regina said,"I was about to grab lunch and saw you outside. I was going to ask you if you wanted to join me for a bite, but I see that you're pre-occupied."

Gaining some composure, Fiona responded, "Yes, I was meeting Jefferson to get more information about a case. His home was robbed last month. As you may or may not know." She tried to sound sincere and she was grateful that she had enough sense to bring a notepad with her scribbles from yesterday with her, adding some credibility to her story. Thinking about the kiss Regina just witnessed, she added "Things got a little carried away. Obviously." Her cheeks were flush from embarrassment.

Mayor Mills tried to see the situation for what it was - a young woman over her head with a man willing to toy with her feelings. Regina's spies around kept her in the loop and she had heard that the younger woman was quite popular with the men of Storybrooke. It was mostly limited to barroom banter as the young deputy enjoyed the attention and wasn't looking for a serious relationship.

Regina said nothing until now since Fiona was discreet. The Mayor was protective of her and she didn't want her to sully her reputation especially by being seen with a man like Jefferson.

Believing her explanation, Regina gave some advice. "I see. I guess Graham hadn't had a chance to talk to you about him, so I'll give you a heads man is wasting your time. He probably wasn't robbed. Not really anyways. I don't know how to say this, but it's better than you ignore him. He has a history of paranoia…"

Fiona was barely listening to what Regina was saying. She was too busy replaying the conversation before and trying to process what Jefferson said and did these last two days. There was no way that what he said was entirely true, but at the same time she couldn't ignore it.

Misreading her silence for doubt about her warning, Mayor Mills pressed on," He can be a bit unstable. He's a loner for a reason." She placed her hand behind Fiona's back, like a big sister passing on some wisdom to her sibling. "Please trust me on this. It's better for you." Regina gave a sweet smile. She knew that spending time with Jefferson would only lead to unhappiness for the girl.

Fiona was completely embarrassed at what happened and took the first chance she could get to leave. "Ok, I will. Thank you Regina. If you don't mind, I'd like to go home for the rest of my lunch break and freshen up."

Satisfied that she helped the deputy, Regina turned her attention to handling Jefferson. He apparently forgot his place and was going to have to remind him. She got back into her car and headed off to his house.


	9. Catching Up with Old Enemies

Jefferson managed to beat Mayor Mills by almost fifteen minutes. With what they had been through, he knew how she operated. She was going to have to the last word with him. He left the front door open and he poured some lemonade for the two of them in the sitting area. If he was going to have her over he might as well be comfortable while he got chewed out.

It was worth it though. Not only did the deputy hear him out, he managed to throw Regina off. It was kind of ironic in a way - she was acting like an overprotective mother without knowing Fiona was her daughter. He had a good laugh at her expense as Regina's car came up towards his house.

When he heard her park in the driveway, he stood by the doorway and had a phony smile on. "Madame Mayor, I wasn't expecting you to come up to my humble abode." He swung out his arms as if he was welcoming an old friend.

Regina, however, had no time for his games. "Save it Jefferson. What kind of stunt were you trying to pull back there with the deputy?" It made her sick to think that he was toying with the young woman's emotions.

He feigned confusion."Whatever do you mean? I was just helping Deputy Kyle with solving my case." He went inside the house, knowing that she would follow him in.

Regina wasn't fooled by his act. He was hiding something. "Don't lie to me! I have no idea of what you're up to in your mad little mind, but it would be best for everyone if you stayed here at your mansion." She was getting tired of worrying about him. "Don't forget that I know who you really are. You have no real romantic interest in the deputy."

"What makes you so sure?"

"She's not your type."

"Oh, I have a type now?" He teased.

"Blond, blue eyed women with bad taste in men." She quipped.

"Those were the good old days, weren't they?"

She scowled at him. "We never had good days Jefferson."

"We were partners Regina."

"No, you were an employee. I paid and you did what I needed."She placed her hands on her hips. "Don't make it more than it was."

He wanted to wipe the condescending smirk off her face. "I'm sure the deputy will be happy to hear that. I don't want her to think anything happened between us."

It worked. Regina was repulsed by his comment and more importantly, she went back to why she was there in the first place. "Tell me Jefferson, why were you out with Deputy Kyle?"

He did not give her a hint of his intentions with talking with Fiona. Instead he focused on the cover story. "As you may have heard, I was robbed. The deputy kindly volunteered to help speed the investigation along." Handing her a lemonade, he finished, "I just want my stuff back Regina." Knowing whom she was dealing with, she placed it back on the table without taking a sip.

"It looked like you were interested in much more than retrieving your lost items." She was getting protective and her anger was seeping out. "Deputy Kyle is a town employee that deserves your respect, not your pathetic attempts at flirting."

He didn't deny that he liked what he saw. "What can I say? The deputy is a very beautiful woman. You can't blame a man for stealing a kiss." In fact, he had a hard time concentrating as he recalled their kiss. It had been such a long time since he felt this infatuated. He tried to shake it off as there were more important things to do, like getting the Mayor off balance. The resourceful hatter knew that the only way to beat Regina was to get her to be sloppy and to get her sloppy, she needed her emotions to get the best of her.

His admission made Regina even more upset and he went on further. "Don't tell me I'm he only man in town who's noticed her. Between her and the Sheriff, I dare say that Storybrooke has the most attractive law enforcement officers in the state."

He spied on the Mayor long enough to know that she was seeing Graham, so it gave him even more pleasure to include her pet into the conversation. "Good hiring call on that one, Mayor. You'll have my vote when it comes time for re-election."

She paused for just a moment, making a split second decision on how to go about this conversation. Taking on her mayor persona she informed him. "I'll have Sheriff Graham handle your case personally. I'll make sure you get back all of your trinkets. Just stay away from the deputy." Her tone was more serious and menacing with the last sentence.

He chose to ignore her implied message."Why Mayor Mills? Isn't it her job to serve and protect all of the townspeople? From what I've read in the papers these last few months she's actually quite good at it." He gave no mention to his small collection of articles he had upstairs of her work around town. Once he saw that she was resourceful and had a sense of integrity, he knew that she could be the ally he needed. Trying to keep her off-balance, he asked,"Tell me, why are you so invested with the deputy?"

"What do you mean? Deputy Kyle is simply a valuable employee." Now it was Regina's turn to act ignorant. "There is nothing special about how I treat her." She wasn't going to give him any more reasons to latch on to Fiona.

He rubbed his palms together; he got excited just seeing her lie so badly. "Come on, it's just the two of us. I just want to know why you've spent so much time interfering in her life." Jefferson grabbed a cookie from the jar besides him. With his mouth full, he continued chatting, "Take for instance that lovely apartment she has by the docks. I could've sworn that it was originally advertised for at least a grand, but it seems like the deputy got it for a steal at $700."

Thanks to a well-placed bribe, he knew that Regina had threaten the landlady with constant 'random' inspections if she didn't sweeten her deal.

She shook her head, trying not to fall for his tricks. "Even if I did have a hand in that agreement, all it shows is how committed I am to taking care of a loyal town worker." Truth be told, she was happy that Fiona moved into the place. It was her first choice for the young lady, it was safer and in a much better area than the other spots Fiona had been looking into.

He countered."It could, but then you'd have to take into account the fact that other apartments she was considering were unavailable for some reason or another while she was hunting and then those same places were open again the day after she signed her lease." He knew the Mayor way too well to really consider it a coincidence. She tended to become controlling whenever someone veered off what she thought was the best path.

Jefferson had thought of sharing this tidbit with the deputy earlier, but knew that it would most likely make her uncomfortable with both Regina and him and he needed her to come to his side.

Upset that he knew, she fabricated an explanation, "You can't possibly believe I had hand in doing that. I'm simply glad things worked out for the best for the dear deputy."

Playing along with her he remarked. "Well Fiona deserves the lucky break. She's such a sweet and kind hearted girl." It still amazed him that the girl had such a strong moral code with Regina as her mother. Perhaps her adoptive parents nurtured that goodness in her he guessed.

He grinned. "I'll trust that she'll do a fine job retrieving my items. Can't wait to get updates from her about the case's progress."

"No, she's not." Regina reminded him." Sheriff Graham will contact you if and when he finds your missing knickknacks. You are to stay away from the deputy." She instructed.

"It's still a free country, whether or not you're mayor of this town Regina. I'll see her whenever I want to." Just to irritate her, he added, "Perhaps even this weekend. I'm sure Fiona hasn't seen the town as I have."

Not liking the idea that Jefferson was going to talk to Fiona, she got in his face. "I don't need you clouding her mind and time with your nonsense." Regina never mentioned the curse directly with him as she knew that it would only further encourage him. She needed the hatter to keep his reputation of being mad, lest someone actually believe him. "You have no idea of what I'm capable of. I'll have you shipped to the asylum and no one would ever miss you."

He called her bluff. "Except that you'd need a viable reason for locking me up. Even though I'm considered crazy in this land, I do have a bit of power. Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy friends. Friends who would start asking questions and get people talking. While I know that you have quite a number of hearts locked up, Madame Mayor I doubt you have the whole town's." He hadn't found out where her vault was, but he had known Regina for more than a lifetime, so he knew she had one here in this town.

Her ego getting the best of her,she wasn't going to let him have the last word."You're right. I may not be able to lock you away quietly, but there are others in town whom I could. Ones that you care about."

Even without saying a word, he knew exactly who she meant - Grace. She was threating to lock away his baby, having her suffer for an eternity alone. He couldn't let that happen to his precious child. How dare she bring her in?! He was absolutely sickened by her low blow.

Knowing that she had him, Regina did her wicked smirk that she knew he hated and sauntered off.

He wasn't going to let her win again. If she wanted to bring his daughter into his fight, then he was going to do the same with hers.


	10. Push Away

**Storybrooke - Mayor's Office**

After her conversation with Jefferson was over, Regina decided to fix up a few loose ends and headed back to her office at the town hall. There was simply too much to do and while her stop by her old partner was necessary, it put her behind schedule. It was going to another long day at the office.

**Storybrooke - Sheriff's Office**

Deputy Kyle pulled into the station a few seconds after Sheriff Humbert. They had split up to check on the owners of white F-150s and see if they could snag one of the preps. Walking over to her cruiser and peeping in the back window, he gave a playful sigh. "I guess you didn't find a suspect."

Fiona shrugged her shoulders, "According to all of them, they were asleep. Most let me check their trucks, but nothing suspicious. A few hold-outs which I noted on my pad. There was a 70 year old woman who didn' have an alibi." Checking over her list, she pulled out the name, "Ms. Franklin. Don't think she's one of the preps."

"Don't make assumptions based on age." He jokingly lectured her.

"She baked some cookies for me. What mastermind criminal does that?" She was supposed to share half those cookies with Graham, but she couldn't help herself. Holding up the box, she offered, "I have 2 left if you want them."

He snatched the box from her. "You're too kind. I'm assuming that were a dozen when she gave them to you?" He wisely guessed.

She laughed, knowing she had been caught. "Anyways…I distributed the flyers at some of the gas stations. Perhaps someone will recognize one of the men."

"Let's hope. You can call it a day. I'm going to keep an eye out on a few of those owners tonight. We'll pick this up first thing tomorrow morning. Get some rest deputy." He instructed.

Fiona didn't need to be told twice so she walked a few blocks until she was home at her apartment.

**Storybrooke - 108 Mifflin St**

Regina was alone at her study, catching up on some reading. She was finishing up on The Partner from John Grisham. A few people around town mentioned it last week so she decided to see what all the fuss was about. As soon as she started the novel, she was hooked and picked up the book whenever she had some free time.

The door bell rung and she was jolted out of her thoughts. Looking at the clock, she noticed it was almost 10:30pm.

Who could that be? She wondered.

No one but Graham ever visited this late and he was working tonight, trying to solve the robberies. He was on patrol around town to see if he could catch the thieves.

She walked downstairs and whomever was there impatiently rung the door bell a few more times. Now irritated, the Mayor checked the peephole to see who dared disturbed her. It was Deputy Kyle and while the light was dim, Regina could deal she was extremely upset.

Opening the door, Regina kindly asked, "Is everything alright Fiona?" When she last saw her this morning downtown she was fine, maybe a bit embarrassed, but Regina was certain she was alright. When she asked Graham about his partner earlier this evening he gave no indication that something was wrong.

"Don't pretend to be a friend." She was hostile and now in the light, Regina could she that her eyes were read and swollen from crying. Handing the mayor an envelope, she let herself in the large house and stood in the foyer.

Regina saw a tape inside and papers stapled together. Reading the contents, she saw how it related to the tape - it was a word by word transcription of a conversation she had a few months ago with Felicia Kyle, Fiona's aunt. The transcript revealed how Regina convinced the woman that it would be better for all if Fiona stayed in Storybrooke instead of attending an in-state college.

Since the mayor said nothing, Fiona spoke. "How could you do this?!" The younger girl accused Regina. "You knew how badly I wanted to go. And for what reason? I was going to still work at the station on a part-time basis. You even told me that was ok. I can't believe you lied to my face! Why did you do this?"

When Fiona found out that University of Maine had a campus less than an hour away, she thought she found a solution to her problems. She figured at some point Mayor Mills would find out that she was aging so the girl thought attending a local university would be a good escape plan. Ruby and her had been talking about leaving town for months, Ruby was planning on going to Boston and Fiona was looking at college. There was no way she could join Ruby as her grades weren't that fabulous and she didn't have money to pay for out of state tuition. However her grades were good enough for a local school and she felt like her aunt would help with money. Even though Ruby had to put her plans on hold when her grandmother had a heart attack, her friend still encouraged her to go ahead and apply.

She approached Regina with her idea and to ask if she would write a letter of recommendation. The young woman hoped a letter from the mayor would add some weight and perhaps get her a partial scholarship.

When Mayor Mills found out the deputy had been accepted she was proud, but she knew that it couldn't happened, so she called Felicia and asked her to withhold the money and lie to the girl that the family business was in trouble. It had worked and Fiona dutifully accepted the outcome. To ease her conscience, Regina arranged for a small raise in the girl's pay.

Regina rubbed her temples, trying to figure out what to say to the deputy. The truth would be impossible to reveal. She had sabotaged the girl's college attempt as she didn't want her hurt by the Curse. As it was constructed there would be no way for Fiona to get out of town. So far horrible things happened to keep them trapped within Storybrooke. Regina wished that she could somehow create an exception or loophole, but what was done was done.

Switching her mask on, Mayor Mills started to give a explanation. "I did it to protect you. You're not ready. It doesn't seem like it now,but I'm doing what's best for you."

Fiona could barely contain her feelings. Hot tears started streaming down her face and instinctively Regina came to her to brush them off. Disgusted at her deceit, Fiona shoved her away. "You've ruined everything!" She brushed past her to go back to her motorcycle outside.

_**So as far as the leaving for college plan, I feel there would be no way for Fiona to know about the Curse's power to keep them in town at this point. My take on Regina's actions is that it was coming from a genuine desire to protect the deputy from the Curse's effect as something bad has happened to everyone who tried to leave.**_

_**As to whether or not Fiona can leave Storybrooke - that may be explored at some point later (provided you want another story).**_


	11. Fireside Chat

**The Enchanted Forest**

Jefferson and Linus were heading back to the Hatter's home to save Grace. For most of the journey they kept to business when talking with one another. The doctor inquired about symptoms that Grace had displayed and when they stopped by villages, he grabbed herbs and teas that he felt could be useful.

They had only 2 more days before they would be at Jefferson's manor. As they only had an hour or so of light left, they decided to set up camp for the night, getting a fire started for dinner.

As Linus prepared their meal, Jefferson kept on an eye out on Quentin. He was the soldier Lady Emyn assigned as a keeper and bodyguard and looking at the man he could see why. He was huge, like a man cut out of solid granite. He hadn't been much of a talker, so Jefferson nicknamed him Mute Man just so he could see get a scowl from him every once in awhile.

"Dinner's ready." Linus waved his hand for him and Quentin to come over.

He would never tell him, but Jefferson loved how these people made venison stew. It was so rich and some the spices he was still trying to figure out.

Breaking the quiet, Linus asked, "What's your daughter Grace like?" He wanted to keep the arrangement professional, but seeing another father anxious to be with his daughter made him feel a small connection to Jefferson.

A bit uncomfortable with this man, Jefferson kept brief. "She's beautiful, like her mother. Very smart. She's the light of my life." Turning the tables, he asked Linus about Fiona. "Does she know she's adopted? No offense, but she looks so different than most of the children I saw."

Linus took the question in stride."It was never a secret with her. She knows that we are her mama and papa and that is all that matters."

Even though his people in general had a custom of adopting and foreign children were raised side by side with those from Isen, it was rarely done with nobles. Heirs were carefully cultivated, including those adopted. Most nobles considered the bloodlines of the children before accepting them into the home. After all the best were to lead.

Linus and Emyn did not have any knowledge of the girl's background, except for what scant information Ruel Ghorm or as the people here addressed her, The Blue Fairy, gave them.

He recalled a recent conversation he and his wife had with Fiona about being adopted. They were staying over at his sister in law's estate for a few days, helping out with the harvest and enjoying some of the crops from her land. He noticed his daughter kept munching on ear after ear of corn at dinner, which surprised him as she usually hated how it got caught in her teeth. When the two of them got her ready for bed that evening, he asked her about why she ate so much corn. Her reply surprised him.

"I'm trying to eat enough corn to lighten my hair." She said as if it were a matter of fact.

He and his wife were confused at where she got a crazy notion.

Reading her parents so well, she explained. "I'm 4 and half and I still don't look like you. I asked Ewan to help and he said if I ate more corn the yellow would get into my hair."

Thinking that his nephew inadvertently encouraged the little girl to feel odd, he questioned her further. "Did your cousin Ewan tell you that you needed to change?"

"No, papa. Didn't you hear me? I asked him. I'm tired of waiting to get taller and bigger like all the other kids. He's older so I thought he would know." Seeing as her father acted strange with that tidbit, she guessed. "He wasn't telling the truth, was he papa? I ate that corn for nothing." She frowned. What a waste she thought.

Linus was astonished that she was trying to look like them. Emyn and he took time a couple of months ago to explain to Fiona that she was adopted. Keeping with the ruse, they told her that her birth parents had been attacked by bandits and they hid her so she would be safe and that he and his wife found her later. They had thought the conversation had went well as the girl accepted it without question. Now he was doubting the wisdom of the chat with her so early.

His wife took over as he processed his daughter's words. "Yes, but he only meant it as a joke. Eating your vegetables is a good thing Fiona, but it can't change you that drastically."

Confused as to what her solution was, the tiny girl pleaded with her mother. "What do I need to do?"

Hugging her daughter, Emyn answered. "Nothing baby. You are perfect just the way you are."

The girl pushed her away. "No, I'm not. I'm too small for most games. People only pick me because they feel sorry for me. I'm tired of it."

Sighing Emyn, spoke. "Honey, it doesn't work that way. You can't change the way you look. Not like that."

"Will I look like them then? My real mother and father?" She innocently asked.

Even though Emyn knew Fiona meant no disrespect with her inquiry, it cut her to hear the child say real parents, as if Linus and her hadn't raised her since birth.

Now it was Linus' turn to step in while his wife remained quiet, holding back tears. He ran through his hand through his daughter's dark hair and smiled. "Perhaps. Or perhaps you will look just like you. Either way, it doesn't really matter. What truly matters is who you choose to be - will you hold goodness in your heart or not?"

"Oh, papa, I want to be good, like you and mama."

He chuckled at her enthusiastic response. "I know." Pulling up the sheets, he tucked her in and kissed her forehead and left her room so she could sleep.

Now here he was, sitting across a man who claimed to be sent by Fiona's birth mother. While Linus distrusted him, his curiosity got the best of him and he started asking questions. "So is Fiona's mother a doctor? Is that why she offered to heal your daughter?"

He didn't like lying to the man so frequently, not so much for moral reasons, but because he knew that it would be easy for him to trip up on his own deceptions. Rumpelstiltskin's reputation was known in several lands, so he knew he couldn't bring him up. Talking about Regina helped him to keep his story straight and he hoped the consistency would convince Linus to believe him. Jefferson shook his head. "No, but she certainly has the resources to get the best doctor."

"She's of nobility?" Linus needed to know if they had the resources to bribe Jefferson should he not be able to heal Grace.

"She's the Queen of a good portion of The Enchanted Forest. Queen Regina" Jefferson simply said.

A shiver went down Linus' spine and he buried his face in his hands. He had heard of the woman. She was King Leopold's wife. When he and Emyn were in that part of the land getting medicines and supplies from King George they had heard of the birth and subsequent death of a baby in the other kingdom's royal family. The King was going to pay his respects, so he abruptly ended trade with the couple. There were heading back when they were approached by one of fairies, who asked them if they could adopted an abandoned baby.

After suffering from several miscarriages, they were eager to be given the opportunity to be parents. He now realized that The Blue Fairy had told them a lie and they had indeed taken away someone else's daughter. He had a wave of nausea hit him with this awareness and he turned his head fast enough to block the others from seeing him puke. "I need to go for a walk."

Quentin rose up to check on him, but he ordered, "Watch him while I'm gone."


	12. Tight Spot

**Storybrooke - Sheriff's Station**

Morning came and Deputy Kyle came into the station and waited at her desk. Her eyes were baggy and had dark circles. She had hardly slept last, thinking about the Mayor's betrayal, she tossed and turned in her bed until she finally figured out what would give her some peace of mind. Turning on her computer she opened up a file and started typing her letter of resignation. There was no way she could stay on the job, knowing that Mayor Mills had shattered her plans. Fiona knew that there was no way she could work under such a person.

However, she wanted to give her immediate boss the courtesy of a proper resignation with two weeks time so he could find a replacement. That was the least she owed him. At exactly 9:00am Graham walked in and looking at his eyes she knew that he knew.

"We need to talk." She plainly said and he pointed her to his office, where they'd have a door to give them a bit more privacy.

After they both sat down, she handed him her letter. "I wanted to personally give you my letter of resignation. I can no longer work at the Sheriff's office."

He opened and took a minute to read the letter.

Uncomfortable, Fiona looked down at her feet. She didn't want to leave, but the alternative was worse.

"Even though I have an idea of why you're doing this, I want to be sure I haven't hurt you. Are you quitting over anything that I have done?" He looked at her sweetly, like a big brother concerned that his little sister was making a bad choice.

"No, it's been wonderful working for you Sheriff-"

"With me." He corrected her. "We're partners."

"I know." She said quietly. It was starting to hit her how much she enjoyed working with him.

Sighing he asked, "Is there anything I can do to make you reconsider?"

"I doubt it. Unless we can somehow have a new mayor." She muttered.

Even though it wasn't intended as a joke, he had to laugh at the thought."I can't do that." Fiona smiled.

He knew that she was acting rash, but telling her that would only make worse. He learned that the hard way when he had to deal with Regina's moods. Instead he tried to keep it hopeful. "Would you at least let me use these last two weeks to try and convince you to change you mind?" He pulled out his puppy eyes.

Unable to resist his sincere attempt at peacekeeper she shrugged and yielded. "Why not."

"Good. I'll do my best to persuade you to stay, but in the meantime I could use your help with Mr. Gold. Do you mind interviewing some of the shopkeepers around the area to see if they have remembered anything more since the break-in?"

"Sure, I'll head over there now." With her assignment, she left.

Sheriff Humbert sighed; he knew it would be good for all of them to get a few hours to themselves.

**Storybrooke - Granny's Diner**

Lunch break came by quickly and Graham decided to meet up with Regina at Granny's. The Mayor was already there, occupying a booth in the back. "Sheriff Humbert" She greeted him. She preferred to be professional with him in public places like the diner.

Acknowledging her, he said "Mayor Mills. So glad we can meet up to discuss town business."

Ruby came by to get his order. "What would you like Sheriff?"

He glanced at the menu, but he heart was already set on the special for the day. "I'll have a sweet tea and the pot roast with some mashed sweet potatoes."

Ruby turned to Regina. "And what would you like Madam Mayor?"

"I'll have a Greek salad with grilled chicken and extra feta. To drink, I'd like a water with lemon." She answered.

"I'll have that up as soon as they're ready."

With Ruby gone for the time being, the two could talk.

Judging by her tired appearance, Graham took a guess. "You didn't sleep well last night, did you?" He knew since her phone call early this morning about the fight she was had with Fiona last night that she hadn't. While she did not explicitly state it, Graham knew her well enough to sense that she felt remorse about her interference with the deputy. Over the past year he noticed that she had developed a soft spot for the young woman. He actually liked seeing a more gentle side to her.

Ruby brought them their drinks and some chips to munch on.

Graham gently pushed. "Well, you need to talk her and tell her you messed up. She'll understand." Knowing that his partner was still fuming, he added, "Just not today."

It was not the first time the two had a falling out, but usually it was the other way around with Fiona apologizing for speaking or doing something without thinking. She still had some growing up to do, but he always trusted that she had good intentions. He had no doubt that Fiona would get over this situation with some time to cool off. "Try to explain your reasons and she'll come around. She just feels hurt."

Recalling last night Regina revised his statement. "I distinctly remember that she was angry." She didn't have time to come up with a believable cover story as the younger brunette left in a huff. Regina tried reaching the deputy on her home line, but she didn't pick up.

"Well, this morning she was less angry and more disappointed." Taking a chance, he added. "I don't blame her. You did cross a line."

When she looked like she was going to protest, he placed his up in the air in a mock surrender. "Listen, I just want the two of you to get back on speaking terms. Believe me, it's less stressful for me this way."

Just in time, Ruby came back with their lunches and the two started digging in their meals before speaking again.

Graham decided to mention a different topic. "By the way, what did you think about my proposal for the department to have cell phones? I read that they are quite handy and they are more reliable than beepers. You can tabs on us anytime-" He then realized that bring that benefit up now wasn't the smartest move.

Regina's look told him to immediately drop the subject and he went back to his lunch. The sheriff was finishing up his roast when Regina spoke.

Addressing the other problem that was gnawing at her, she asked,"Do you know how she got the tape?" After she tore apart her office, she found nothing. Calling her contacts at the phone company yielding nothing as well. She was hoping Graham had an explanation.

"I do." He pounded the pavement this morning, discreetly asking neighbors if they saw anyone stop by the deputy's apartment building. A helpful older woman gave a tip about a handsome, well-dressed, but odd man that was in the area after dinner. She added that she thought he was simply looking for his girlfriend. Graham shared his discovery with the mayor (leaving out the last detail). "It seems like Jefferson stopped by her place."

Seeing her anger flare up, he quickly offered. "I can go to his house now and fix this up." He had absolutely no idea how he'd do it. He just knew it would much better Jefferson if Regina kept her distance.

Scowling at the hatter's cowardice, she instructed, "No, you get back to Gold's case. I'll take care of Jefferson."


	13. Mutual Stabs

**Storybrooke - Jefferson's Manor**

Regina practically drove her car right into Jefferson's front door. She jumped out her Mercedes and slammed the door behind her.

Hearing the commotion Jefferson opened his door, seething at her for trespassing at his sanctuary.

She returned the hate and scowled at him. "I've had enough of you Jefferson. I don't know what you hoped to pull off with that stunt." She began, but he quickly cut her off.

Crossing his arms, he crowed, "Ah, I guess the deputy finally saw you for who you are - a snake. Serves you right." He was surprised that Fiona would confront Regina herself. She was braver than he gave her credit for. Most people would have content with letting their hate fester in private rather than challenge Regina.

"Don't be so smug, it doesn't suit you Jefferson." She wasn't here to debate with him. Her purpose was to knock him back down to his proper place. She handed him some legal looking papers, "I'm here to let you know that you're being served a restraining order. Your mental instability and habit of stalking is too big of an issue ignore anymore. Unless you're seeing Dr. Hopper or you're getting necessary supplies, if you set one foot downtown, I will make sure you're thrown in jail." With that she walked back to her car.

He glanced at the papers briefly and yelled at Regina. "Getting desperate, are we? This is a bit dramatic, even for you. The deputy is more than capable of making her own decisions."

She turned around and smirked, "You may want to read those papers more carefully dear." While the smart thing would've been to get in her car and leave, she paused to get his reaction and gloat.

Scanning over the paperwork, he noticed that Fiona wasn't mentioned here at all. The restraining order was to keep him away from daughter. His fury was now unleashed and he ripped the papers. "You witch! She has already been through enough, thanks to you." With a few strides he reached the Mayor, grabbed her by the arms, and shoved her into the Mercedes.

"I helped you get your father back from the Queen of Hearts and you left me alone in that wretched land. Knowing full well that my daughter needed me." That wound was still fresh in his mind and his time in Wonderland was unforgettable and painful.

Refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her afraid, Regina instead smirked. She was amused at how easily he got riled up. Jefferson was trying to place the blame on her instead of accepting his responsibility. She spat out her words. "Serves you right for leaving her! At least here she is with a family that loves her and will not abandon her."

He shoved her against the car again and yelled back, "She's MY daughter! She deserves to be with her father."

Regina glared at him. "She deserves someone better than you. She had the injustice of having you as a father. In this land, that has been fixed. I did her a favor." She gave a wicked smile and Jefferson just fell silent.

For a second Regina thought he had given up, like he always did. She was wrong and when he spoke the venom in his voice spouted out. "You're right; there is some justice. My Grace is safe in this land and while I can't be with her, I cherish all the fond memories of the great times we had together. I also have some measure of joy knowing that you got what you deserved." His next words stabbed her like a knife in her heart. "You never got to be with your daughter and raise her. Thank whatever Higher Power is out there that she was spared the punishment of having you as a mother."

Without a hesitation Regina punched him in the face. The force knocked him to the ground and like a bear she kept attacking, kicking and stomping him while he was on the steps.

A sane man would've tried to appease or calm her down, but Jefferson was past that point. He had spent over a decade watching his Grace live a lie and he was done with all of it.

For once, she deserved to feel the pain he did.

He goaded Regina, "Just tell me, Regina - did you ever really love the child? Or were you secretly happy that the King's daughter died?Perhaps you smothered her yourself."

With each taunt, she intensified her attacks on him and he got crueler. Pulling up what little he knew about her family, he continued, "I'm amazed you would even think you'd be fit to be a mother. Wasn't your mom some kind of monster, collecting hearts in vaults? What kind of mother was she? Did you and her spend time together, talking over tea about her collection? Is that what you planned for your daughter?" He started laughing at that absurd imagine. He tasted blood in his mouth, but he just didn't care. Recalling how his mentor Rumpelstiltskin liked to twist the verbal knife, he egged her. "Can you imagine what she would've turned out like? Perhaps she would've been a needy and pathetic woman like you. Come to think of it, do you even remember what she looked like anymore? It's been a lifetime ago. And you only had her for what, less than a week? A shame. I can't even imagine how small that coffin must have been, must have been the size of a shoebox."

Tears flooded down her face, ruining her make-up and obscuring her vision as the saltiness was hurting her eyes. There were no coherent thoughts going through Regina's mind, just pain and mental pictures of her brief time with her daughter Rose Red.

Her only goal was to get this man to shut up.

Mustering his final verbal blow, he decided to go as below the belt as he possibly could. "If she were alive and here, she would hate you with everything she had; just like you were disgusted with your own mom. Like mother, like daughter."

Finally he stopped mocking her, not because he ran out of things he could say, but because she managed to fracture his jaw. The overwhelming pain caused him to black out.


	14. Counter-Offer

**The Enchanted Forest**

It was a miracle; his little Grace was alive and well. Linus had examined his daughter and concocted some elixir from his satchels of medical herbs. Twice a day for the past week, Grace had been given the mixture with her meals and every day she got stronger. Today she was out side with her mother, getting fresh air. She appeared happy and back to her normal self. Jefferson was watching Karenina and Grace from the bay window, his eyes wet from tears of happiness. He had his baby girl back.

He heard footsteps approaching and knew who it was even before he spoke. The doctor had come to finish their deal. "She is cured."

"Thank you." Jefferson turned around to face the man. He was torn as to what to do next. He had figured that the man wouldn't have been able to perform this impossible feat and that he would simply turn him over to Rumpelstiltskin, so the imp could use him to pick up Rose and then reward Jefferson by curing Grace. Now that she was fine though, he faced another dilemma. No one breaks a deal with The Dark One. And yet his word was that he'd let the girl stay hidden from his former mentor.

Linus walked up to him, standing in his space. "I think there is something you should know. Before you try to betray me and my family."

Jefferson stiffened up at the accusation. "What would that be?"

"The illness your daughter had. I've seen it before. It's very rare. Very specific to a region in the land."

"Well, thanks for that tidbit, but after dragging other healers in the land, I figured the illness had to be unique. I'm grateful that your expertise was able to diagnosis it." He wondered where this man was going.

"No, I don't think you do understand. Based on your daughter's illness, I know who you're really working for - Rumpelstiltskin."

The hatter was taken aback. How did he know that?

As if he read his mind, Linus answered his question. "This illness came from a land not far from where I live. More isolated than ours if you can believe. Most people don't like to go to that area because the land is tainted with a dark magic from a previous resident. Not quite a man anymore, full of hate and despicably obsessed with making deals. Cursed with the power of being The Dark One. Someone with the ability to acquire an old disease and dish it out to an innocent child just so he can manipulate a desperate father to do his bidding. Sounds familiar?"

Jefferson couldn't respond to the revelation. He had dealt long enough with Rumpelstiltskin to know what he was capable of and Linus' words had a ring of truth."

The Isen man continued, "And here you had me convinced that you were working for the good of my daughter! Making me believe that you were going to reunite her with her mother. To some degree I understand why you did it, but please know that if you reveal Fiona's location, you would be condemning that child to a life of hell. If he is willing to go this far to find her, what do you think he would do once he has her?"

Jefferson didn't have to imagine. He was all to aware of how Rumpelstiltskin operated. He was 'raised' by him, trained to use his magic for Rumple's gain. He also knew that Regina too was a puppet with her strings being pulled. He looked up at Linus, "You're right. Your daughter would never be safe. But know this - I did not lie about her mother. She is Queen Regina and she was led to believe that her daughter died."

Linus felt guilt again at those words. "Are you suggesting that I return Fiona to her birth mother?"

Jefferson shook his head. "No, she is being used by The Dark One. She would do all in her power to protect her child from him, but she's not strong enough to succeed." As a parent he felt that he knew that Regina would prefer her daughter to be safe, even if she couldn't be with her. "She's better off with you two. Just make sure when she's old enough to tell her that her birth parents loved her dearly."

Not quite sure he believe Jefferson would keep his secret he asked, "And what about Rumpelstiltskin? What will you tell him?"

"I don't know yet, but let me worry about that. If you would please return my hat, I'll take you and Quentin back to your families."

With that the two men shook hands and made a deal.

**For Jefferson's wife's name I used Karenina because I love the OUAT fanfic "The Greatest Irony". If you haven't already, please read it.**


	15. Covering Tracks

**Storybrooke - 108 Mifflin St**

Even though the attack lasted mere minutes, there was a lifetime of raw and unresolved emotions that Regina felt. In all those years, since she gave birth to her daughter only to lose her mere days later, she never grieved properly for her baby girl. She felt too isolated to feel comfortable enough to let all her pain out. The hate and vengeance that she had for Snow White had became an ironically comforting bandage over a huge wound. She felt couldn't pull it off because it would force her to confront the abysmal loss that was in her. And yet here she was, in another land having to deal with it.

Checking his pulse, Mayor Mills saw that he was still alive. Seeing Jefferson in his broken condition, she could honestly say she felt no remorse for coming at him. After everything he did, she felt that he deserved this. Her only problem was the fact that as Mayor she couldn't be seen pummeling one of her town's residents. She had to fix this quickly and quietly.

Regina got in her Mercedes and drove to her home. Calling her office, she notified the small staff that she wasn't going to return to work for the rest of the day as she was feeling wasn't a complete lie. As she formulated her plan, she did get sick to her stomach. Still she had no other choice, she had to protect herself.

Mayor Mills went to her desk and slowly pulled out a box. She opened it and picked up the glowing heart inside. It had been years since she last held it; things had been going well so she had no reason to control Graham. Today, though, she had to protect herself. Knowing that he would never do it willingly, she used his heart to coerce him. She gave instructions to the Sheriff to check up on Jefferson and remove all evidence of her ever being there.

Once that was completed, the threat of Jefferson exposing her was minimized. His reputation was already shaky and by simply removing the restraining order, she was certain that he would remain silent. He was easy to manipulate. She worried a bit about Deputy Kyle, but figured it need be, she'd use Graham to handle that as well.

Once that unpleasantness was done, she went upstairs to take a shower and change her clothes. With the water running, she allowed herself to cry not just for the past day, but a missed lifetime.

**Storybrooke General Hospital**

As it was glaringly obvious to the EMTs that arrived on the scene, he was attacked. The speculation among themselves was that a man, perhaps two, came to silence him for stirring up the burglary investigation.

Jefferson was lucky that Sheriff Humbert was patrolling the area. He called in as soon as he saw the man sprawled out on the driveway, half dead. While they tended to his wounds, the Sheriff searched around the house to see if there were any evidence left.

As per their duty, the EMTs called the station so Deputy Kyle could head down to the hospital and get started on the paperwork. She met Dr. Whale first to get his assessment of the situation. Once he finished, he made a request. "Since we have no idea who attacked him. I would like to request protection for him overnight. We are short-staffed with nurses."

Fiona nodded. "Sounds reasonable. I'll stay here tonight and I'll talk to Sheriff Humbert first thing tomorrow about extra security." She had tried to reach Graham earlier through his beeper to get an update, but he hadn't responded. Dr. Whale pointed her to the room at the end of the hall. "He's on the right deputy. I have to prep for surgery now. I'll check on him again before I finish my shift."

When she got to his room, Jefferson was completely stitched up and heavily medicated. He was awake and she did her best to give him a smile.

His baby blue eyes couldn't be seen as one of them was practically swollen shut and the other had a bandage over it. Even though the nurses cleaned him up, she could easily imagine that he came in with completely bloodied clothes. She reminded herself to request his bag of clothes from one of the nurses after she finished checking up on him and got an initial statement.

"Hey there." She called out lamely. Even though her adoptive father was a doctor, she never got used to the sight of someone injured or ill. She took a chair and moved it right next the bed so he could talk to her without having to move much.

She touched his face and he winced. Even with the painkillers, he was extremely sore and sensitive. She felt horrible for causing him even more pain."I'm sorry."

It was terribly difficult for him to speak with his hairline fracture, but he did so because he didn't want her to feel bad for trying to comfort him. "It's ok. It's not your fault that I got the stuffing kicked out of me." He attempted a laugh, but instead he groaned.

Fiona didn't want to press the issue, but she had a job to do. She had to protect Jefferson and others from the violent culprit."You need to get some rest, so I'll be quick with my questions. Would it be easier if you wrote out your answers?"

Jefferson shook his head. "No, My hands are still a bit numb. I don't think I can hold a pen."

"I see. Do you remember who attacked you?" She asked.

"No." He whispered.

She had expected that response. He looked so battered that she thought he might've had temporary memory problems. Still he may remember a valuable detail. "Do you recall anything from teh attack? Do you know if it was a man or woman? Did he say anything?"

He hesitated. He knew he couldn't say it was Regina.

Pointing the finger at her wouldn't help. He knew that by the time the deputy checked the house herself there would be no evidence and even if she did believe him, taking on Regina required a plan. It would put her in an impossible situation as there was no way Regina would be arrested in her own town. She would be unprepared and he worried that the Mayor would quickly turn on her just she had done with him. No, he wasn't going to do that to her. She deserved better. So he lied. "I can't recall anything. I'm sorry."

Deputy gently squeezed his right hand. "It's ok, we'll find him Jefferson." He moved his hand to stroke her face.

_This was not what I planned_ he thought. His original plan was to convince her that her secret was safe, get her on his side, and let her see how evil the Mayor really was. Then the two of them could work on a plan to break the curse so he could be reunited with his dear Grace. Now something else was coming into the mix - he was starting to fall for her. He had no idea if she felt the same way and now wasn't the time to sort through his feelings.

There were more important things to do than worry like a schoolboy about how the deputy felt about him. Perhaps if he were in better physical condition and not so medicated, he may have thought things through a bit more. Instead he was acting without thinking. He needed to get something off his chest, like telling her truth about who she was.

"I need to tell you about your mother."

She awkwardly laughed. "It can wait Jefferson. You need to focus on recovering. We have plenty of time to talk about that later." She was uncomfortable with the sudden change of topics and not quite sure if she wanted to hear it. He was obviously not in the best state of mind. "Let's wait until tomorrow to discuss this."

Jefferson knew that like a bandage that needed to be ripped off quickly; it was better if she knew now rather than later. "It's Regina. She's your mother."

**FINALLY! Fiona knows who she is :) I'm writing up the second part to deal with the aftermath and finally solve the robberies.**

**Thoughts and ideas? Please review and PM me!**


	16. Coping with a Tsunami

**Storybrooke General Hospital**

"What did you say?" She must've misheard, somehow misunderstood what he said. They were just talking about his attack earlier that day, trying to get a clue as to who assaulted him. He claimed that he remembered nothing and she was going to let him be until he recuperated a bit more. Then, out of nowhere he just mentioned her birth mother. He had just dropped the bombshell as if it was simply the color of the sky outside.

According to him, she wasn't just alive, she was the last person Fiona expected.

Regina Mills, the Mayor of Storybrooke, was her mother. Also known as the Evil Queen, the woman who ripped away an untold number of people to a land without hope.

The young raven haired woman started pacing, trying to sort out pieces that were in front of her. The room was getting warm all of a sudden.

Jefferson was watching her carefully, tired from both the attack and medication, but too afraid to let her deal with this herself. "I know it's a lot to take in right now." He tried to reassure her.

She jerked his her head at the sound of his voice. Angry at his ridiculous remark, she snapped. "You think?!" She came up to him again, but instead of being gentle and concerned, she grabbed his right arm. Hard. He grunted in pain.

"Is this some sort of game? Have you skipped your meds or something? I swear I'm in no mood to be lied to. Tell me the truth, who's my mother?"

Even though his vision was blurry from the swelling and bandages, he did his very best to look at her directly. Firmly, he said, "Regina is your mother." He hated saying those words. Just thinking about the woman who had betrayed him and just recently left him for dead, he couldn't even fathom that she ever gave birth to a the typically gentle soul that was in front of him now.

Fiona was having a hard time accepting this revelation as truth. "That's not possible. I don't believe you." She shook her head as she thought about the past few days." You were just trying to convince me the other day that she needed to be taken down and now you're saying she's my mother?! Is this some sort of sick joke?"

Looking back now, he realized his original plan was simply unrealistic. He regretted the order in which he opened up to her. She needed time to digest everything. Unfortunately with how things played out, they didn't really have that luxury. "It's true. Both facts. She is your real mother, but you're nothing like her. She has cursed all of us here in Storybrooke for her own selfish reasons. She has to be stopped. We can break the curse. If we work together."

Too bad for him, Fiona wasn't listening to his ramblings about the Curse. She squeezed his arm harder. "I don't have time for this Jefferson. Stop lying and tell me what you know!"

He announced. "I have proof!" She released her grip and he exhaled in relief.

"What?"

"When I was looking into your background a few months ago, I had a DNA test done. It confirmed my suspicions."

She was rattled by this violation. "How did you get a sample from me?"

"Money can get you far if you know how to use it." Ashamed at his own actions, he told her. "It's better you don't know. Just know that I've kept the results in a safe place. Please sit down." He patted his right hand on the bed to encourage her to relax. His monitored beeped a bit and his breathing became labored and he struggled with his words. "I just need to rest a bit."

Fiona took her spot on the seat by his bed and one of the nurses came in. "Is everything ok?" She asked sweetly.

Jefferson answered. "Yes, I'm just tired."

"You really need to be resting, not chatting it up with your girlfriend."

"Wait, I'm not his girlfriend." Fiona protested, but the elderly woman shooed her to be quiet. "Honey, I know what I see. Just shush." She then addressed Jefferson. "Let me adjust your pain relief dosage."

In a matter of moments Jefferson went from completely exhausted to peacefully sleeping. By his expression, Fiona could tell that he was pain free. With the nurse gone, she brushed some of his dirty blond hair that blocked his face with her left hand. She realized she was going to have to be patient if she was going to get answers to her new found questions.

_His girlfriend? Please._ She thought as she adjusted her chair back to catch a bit of shut-eye herself.

Without an announcement, Mayor Mills barged into Jefferson's room. "We need to talk-" she started but she stopped once she noticed that the deputy was in the room.

Jolted awake by the unexpected guest, she looked at her watch. It was now 9:20pm. She had been asleep for a couple of hours. "Mayor Mills, what are you doing here?"

Regina played it off. "I heard about the attack and I wanted to check up on Jefferson." She glanced around for a moment. "What are you doing here deputy?" she said it louder than she intended and the victim, stirred a bit. Fiona walked out into the hallway and the Mayor followed.

She spoke in a low voice. "He needs his rest. Dr. Whale was concerned that his attacker may try again so he asked me to stay the night as added security."

"I doubt anyone would be that imbecilic to attack in public." Fiona had no reply for her. The way she threw out that idea revealed that Regina dismissed the idea as ridiculous.

Continuing her investigation, the Mayor focused her attention on Jefferson and the deputy. "Did he tell you anything about the attack?"

"No, he doesn't remember anything." Fiona responded.

"Really? He has no recollection of intruder?" The mayor looked at her intently and for a second, Fiona felt as if Regina was assessing her statement. She cast off the thought, she was just being sensitive and paranoid.

Regina's face soften and her shoulder dropped a bit. "Well, he'll be safe here tonight. I'll have Sheriff Humbert come here to watch him overnight. You're dismissed." She waved her hands as if she was flicking a pesky mosquito away.

Surprised that she would try to get rid of her, she argued. "I'll stay until Graham gets here." She wanted to stay with Jefferson to get some answers, but there was no way she could talk to Regina about it.

Mayor Mills was getting irritated. She had business with Jefferson that she needed to finish and having the deputy around wasn't in the plans. "No need, I'll keep an eye on him."

"I'd rather wait, Madam Mayor." Fiona pushed back.

Taking a sarcastic tone, Regina replied. "Are you worried that he'll be harmed in my care?" For a split second, Regina noticed a something flash on Fiona's face. The expression was gone too quickly for her to identify, but she got a gut feeling that it was important.

The deputy rolled her eyes at the thought. "Of course, not." She crossed her arms. She was uncomfortable with where the conversation was going.

Taking the younger woman's protectiveness in the wrong way, the Mayor sighed. "I really wish you would take my advice Ms. Kyle and don't mix your personal life with business. Let me handle this situation. As mayor of this town, it's my duty to make sure everyone is safe." Mayor Mills' voice was raised enough that the nurses passing by on the floor heard. One or two snickered, but carried their business.

Fiona became self-conscious and blushed. Irritated that Regina was insinuating that she wasn't doing her job correctly, she snapped back. "I somehow doubt that his case is a priority in your eyes. Perhaps if you did your job in the first place we wouldn't have these break-ins and attacks."

The nurses station got real quiet and when Regina turned to look at them, they all scattered like roaches when the lights came on. Not wanting to get into another verbal battle and tired of having her authority challenged so openly, the mayor pointed her finger right at Fiona. "Watch your tone deputy! I'm doing my job and I expect you to do yours." Her eyes pierced at Fiona's directly, "Let me know now if you have a problem working with me. We can always find a new deputy."

Fiona opened her mouth to say something she'd later regret, but the mayor beat her to the punch. "Go home now."

Embarrassed, the young woman stormed off.

Once she left, Regina went back into the room. He was still asleep, but she didn't care. He could rest later. Shaking him, she ordered him. "Wake up. We need to talk."

Dazed, but quickly gathering his thoughts Jefferson was startled to see Regina was alone with him in the man noticed that the mayor had changed her outfit from earlier today. She was now wearing a well fitted black dress with the shoulders accented. She probably destroyed what she wore already, he mused. He checked out the room for any sign of Fiona. "I sent your bodyguard home." She smirked.

Sitting up, he asked, "Are you here to finish the job?" He tried to be calm, but the fear in his eyes gave him away.

"No, my dear. You wouldn't have woken up if I wanted you dead." She remarked. The sheriff had already cleaned up Jefferson's house and Sidney was digging around to double-check if anyone witnessed her in the area, so no one could plausibly accuse Regina of the attack, but she still needed to tie up a big loose end. "I was thinking we could make a deal. One where we both benefit."

Tired of her games, he sighed. "What do you want Regina?"

"I want your silence and cooperation. In exchange, I'll make sure the district attorney has the restraining order against you dropped."

He knew that it was in his best interest to agree. She had all the power and leverage and it was all because he carelessly provoked her. He let his emotions get the best of him. Through clenched teeth, he vowed, "I won't say a word."

"Smart move." Making sure she covered all her basis, she asked. "Did you mention anything to the deputy?"

"No, I told her I couldn't recall anything." He started to get alarmed that Regina was asking. He tried to play it cool, but he had no way of talking to her to warn the young woman about Regina.

"Well, she seemed awfully protective of you, she thought someone would come after you again? Do you have any idea why?" Regina couldn't shake the nagging feeling that the deputy was hiding something from her.

"Her job is to investigate, so I imagine she's simply doing her job and trying to protect me." He knew that she wouldn't completely trust him, but at least he could feign ignorance to keep her guessing.

Seemingly accepting his word, Regina departed.

While everything looked good, she had to make sure the deputy was completely in the dark. While Fiona wouldn't willingly to talk to Regina, she was hoping the young woman would be more forthcoming with her boss.


	17. Patching Things Up

**Storybrooke - Deputy Kyle's Apartment**

Saturday morning came and she decided to sleep just a bit more. Peeking from under her blanket, she saw that her apartment looked like a mess, but she didn't care. Graham hadn't returned any of her calls, so she assumed that he was still busy processing Jefferson's case.

Her head ached at the thought of that man. After last night's conversation and his absurd claims she was hoping never to see him again. Once she got home from the hospital she spent the rest of the evening raiding her fridge and liquor cabinet.

Over the course of the night she partially convinced herself that he made the whole ridiculous story up. She had no doubt that he remembered his life before the Curse, but she figured that he must have somehow scrambled memories of someone else with her. There was absolutely no way she could be Regina's daughter. Her family would've said something to her, right?

Every time she thought about possibility of it being true more questions kept appearing.

Who was her father?

Where was he?

Why did Regina give her up?

What was her real name?

Did she have any other family?

How did she end up with her parents?

Did they know the truth?

The questions kept coming until she was overwhelmed by them and she persuaded herself that it was easier to not believe him. She'd just keep going on about her life as she always actually worked until her alarm went off an hour ago and she realized that those same questions and doubts were lingering around her like the blanket she was snuggled in.

She decided that 10am was long enough and jumped into the shower for a quick wash. She shuffled back to her room and grabbed a rustic orange button-down shirt and dark blue matchstick cut jeans. Living in Maine meant she wore shorts for maybe two months and jeans for the rest of the year.

Fiona finished getting ready, she hoped she had enough time to grab the breakfast special at Granny's. Unable to find her favorite brown boots by her bed, she went ahead and searched her apartment.

There was a knock at her door and she got up from looking under the guest bed to see who it was. Through the peephole, she saw Sheriff Humbert in the hallway, smirking and holding a small box and a half filled drink holder. "Please let me in, I brought over a bacon croissant and some coffee."

Always bribing me with food she thought as she opened the door. "Hey, what are you doing here?" She ask as nonchalantly as she could. Her boss rarely came over to her place unless he called ahead.

He walked in and placed the drinks and box of food down on her coffee table. "Checking on my deputy." He paused long enough to look around and examine her place. "Did you have a break-in as well?" He joked.

"Party." She lied. Fiona didn't want Graham to think that she drank all the time. Usually she was pretty good with watching what she had, but the last week had been especially stressful for her.

Embarrassed by her place's appearance, she started grabbing out of place clothes and dishes. She threw the clothes into her hamper in her bedroom closet and loaded the dishwasher as quickly as she could. He simply sat on her couch munching on a sausage biscuit and sipping on his coffee.

Once she finished with the dishes, he tipped her off as to why he was there. "So I heard you were dismissed from your post last night."

Quickly recalling how the Mayor humiliated her in front of other, Fiona sucked on her teeth out of anger. "She's just impossible to work with. I'm glad I have less than 2 more weeks with her." The young woman went ahead and took a few bites from her croissant. While she was not happy about giving her resignation to Graham as she loved working with him and helping the townspeople, the Mayor was making it difficult. It seemed as if Regina was giving her a hard time and that was even before she found out that the woman kept her from leaving Storybrooke.

For some reason, the Sheriff looked perplexed. "Two weeks?"

Poor guy must have been working more nights than she thought. "Yes, I gave my 2 weeks notice the other day. Remember? You said you'd try to convince me to change my mind." Sighing, she muttered, "Doubt that's going to happen."

Her sweet boss was just as lost. He shook his head and changed the subject. "We can discuss that later dear. I was more concerned about last night."

Fiona made a face and crossed her arms. Graham never called her dear. They had always had a friendly, yet professional relationship. He wasn't acting like himself. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm just…tired. That's all. I wanted to get your side of the story."

"Ok, Regina came in to the room-"

He waved off her comment. "No, I meant your conversation with Jefferson. Did he say anything to you about the attack? Did he remember anything?"

Surprised by his tone and dismissal of her feelings, she struggled to replay the chat she had with the erratic man. "No, he was very adamant that he didn't remember anything." She could've sworn that she saw a look of relief come over him, but that couldn't have been right.

"We'll find out who did this to Jefferson. In the mean time, please enjoy the rest of your weekend off." He rubbed his hand on her left arm and gave her a phony smile. She pulled back sharply. The sheriff was acting odd and it was making her very uncomfortable. "Graham, I think you should leave."

"What's wrong Deputy Kyle?"

Not wanting to make it an even more awkward situation she bluntly told him, "I don't think Regina would appreciate you acting like this."

Uncharacteristically he sneered, "You were just complaining about how difficult she is. Now you're lecturing me about her?"

No longer nervous she stepped into his space. "There's a difference between venting about someone and going behind her back with her boyfriend. I wouldn't break our trust like that." She started pushing him out.

He quickly apologized. "Fiona, I didn't mean to offend you-", but he found himself out of the door before he could finish making amends.

She locked her door and crashed on her bed to fume over what just occurred. It was shaping up to be a horrible week.

**Storybrooke - Town Hall**

Meanwhile at her office, Regina gently placed Graham's heart back into the small chest she stored it in and sat back in her chair. The conversation didn't go as planned, but she did manage to find out that the deputy heard nothing from Jefferson about his assault. The fact that there was no conspiracy between the two allayed Regina's fears.

She hadn't meant for Graham to act so out of character with the young woman. Regina guessed her attempts to reassure the deputy manifested with the Sheriff temporally adopting some of her own mannerisms. She knew that those two would sort things out some way soon enough.

She, however, was feeling a bit troubled by Fiona's reaction. On one hand the girl was still bitter and angry with her and yet she was still honorable enough to kick Graham out when she felt he crossed a line.

Every time she thought she had grown tired of the deputy's sensitivity and hotheadedness over the most minor things, Regina found herself surprised by some random act of kindness the girl displayed. The mayor had no idea how to handle those situations as she had little experience with having long lasting friendships with other females.

Growing up, her mother's desire to get their family one step closely to the crown alienated Regina from many of the other young woman in the land as they were deemed 'competition'. As Regina's interests included riding her horses, traveling, or reading, she saw her circle of potential friends dwindle even further. Apparently past a certain point, ladies were to be more concerned with appearances and tea times rather than developing personalities.

Nevertheless there was one young lady named Vanessa from a noble house visiting her grandparents that did share the princess' love of books. The two had met when Cora was hosting a meal to possibly set up Regina with the girl's brother, Benjamin. He was a complete moron and she loathed talking to him, but Vanessa and her bonded immediately.

Over the course of the summer the two had fun swapping books and sharing their thoughts. Cora allowed it because she had hoped Regina would win the young prince over, but he was more interested in flirting around than settling down. Vanessa and Regina laughed at his sad attempts to sweet talk one of the young women in their social circle.

As the summer was ending, a ball was going to be given by Vanessa's family. It was a chance to say good-bye to a friend and have a good time. She had spent weeks hunting for the perfect gift and discovered some rare books about lands beyond their own kingdoms that she knew Vanessa would absolutely love.

She came in with her parents and dropped off her beautifully wrapped package with the servant and went inside. It was a marvelous ball - the grand hall had been transformed with silk clothes in a variety of colors hiding the stone walls and lively music being played. A few of the men turned their heads when Regina arrived, captivated by her looks and her gorgeous blue gown.

Looking around she didn't see her friend so she was sat next to her father. After about 20 minutes her mother came over encouraged her to talk with the available men her age. Knowing that her mother wasn't making a suggestion she made her way to the crowd that had gathered.

Apparently some good story was being told because all the young people were in a circle, focused on what was being said. As she couldn't hear, Regina nudged herself in closer, not noticing the snickers and glances that came her way. She started to pick up pieces of the conversation.

"She actually rides without a saddle! How coarse." With that comment, all in the the circle started laughing, except for those immediately around Regina, who looked very uncomfortable.

She heard another voice speak up. "Well, what do you expect, her mother used to work in the mills. You can't think that marrying into nobility would take the servant mentality out of them." Recognizing the mention of her mother and realizing that they were talking about her, Regina pushed through to get to the middle of all of this. That's when she saw Vanessa, who now caught on that her 'friend' had heard what she said. The red head just looked at her, unable to come up with an apology or explanation for her actions.

Tears in her eyes, Regina ran out of the circle hoping to spare herself the further humiliation of crying in public, hearing the laughs continue at her expense. She sprinted outside and sat in her family's carriage. Now in a private spot, she burst into tears. She heard footsteps approaching and assumed her father was here to offer her comfort as he always did. Instead her mother got in the carriage and instantly the temperature inside dropped a few degrees.

Cora's stern faced soften just the tiniest bit and she stroked her daughter's tear stained face with her hand. Regina thought her mother was going to order the driver to take them back to their manor, but there was no such relief. "This too shall pass my darling. Now dry your eyes, dinner is about to begin in 10 minutes. We don't want to be late."

"I can't go back there mother! They're hypocrites; Vanessa and the others were mocking me and you. Please ,can't we just leave?" she pleaded. She couldn't stand the thought of being there for a moment longer.

"Hush child. We will not give them the satisfaction of winning. We will take our reserved spots and we will have dinner. There are too many noble families gathered here to ignore. Pull yourself together and be a lady."

"No! This is ridiculous.I don't want to go back inside, knowing how Vanessa and the others really think of me." She knew she sounded more like a child than a young lady, but she didn't care.

Grabbing her daughter by the shoulders, Cora spoke firmly. "Don't be so naive about your so-called friend Regina. She has been gossiping about you the entire summer or did you think she really enjoyed riding horses and reading as much as you?" The words hit her like a slap to the face.

"You knew she was doing this?! Why didn't you tell me? Why are we even here?" She couldn't accept that her own mother would keep her in the dark about this.

"You needed to learn a valuable, but painful lesson my love. In life you have to learn to rely only on yourself, don't give your heart or friendship to anyone because it is weakness." Repeating what she said earlier, she reminded Regina, "You're getting old enough to start thinking about your future and here at this ball there are plenty of opportunities for you to move up. Take this chance to find someone and you'll get the best revenge." She kissed her on the forehead and opened the carriage door. "Let's go."

Scared of pushing her mother further, Regina complied and went back inside. She vowed to be careful with whom she had friendships with. In fact it wasn't until Maleficent that Regina opened herself just enough to have a sort of acquaintanceship with someone else.

Now she realized that over the past year she had a soft spot and rapport with Deputy Kyle. While she wasn't perfect by any means, Regina drew some comfort knowing that Fiona hadn't betrayed her. Reflecting on how she acted at the hospital, the mayor saw that perhaps she dealt too harshly with her.


	18. Warning

**Storybrooke General Hospital**

Jefferson tried dialing her house again, pressing each button carefully to verify he was calling the right number. The phone rang, but he still got no answer. The voice-mail message came on again and he hung up. There was no way he's leave a message on her phone. Regina and/or the Sheriff could be listening in.

He couldn't believe that she hadn't checked in on him. He had no idea how Regina would react to the news of finding out her daughter was alive and well. He hoped that the deputy kept her mouth shut until he had a chance to sit down and discuss things a little more.

It was now Tuesday and he was getting ready to check out. Once he got his discharge papers, he'd call a taxi to get him back home. He was ready to leave this place.

Over the course of the last few days since he had been admitted at the hospital his visitors had only been Mayor Mills, Sheriff Humbert, and Dr. Hopper.

Archie had heard that he was attacked and went to see him yesterday afternoon to make sure he was alright. The doctor also wanted to ask Jefferson if he wanted to get back into therapy to get control on his 'delusion', the one where he believed that they had all hailed from another land. After his encounter with Regina, the hatter wisely pretended that he no longer believed it and that it was simply a figment of his imagination. Still, the well intentioned doctor pressed him to make an appointment and Jefferson did, if only to give him a reason to be downtown.

Tired of watching television, he got out of his bed and decided to move around some to pass the time.

Someone tapped twice on his opened door and he noticed it was Deputy Kyle. "I heard you were checking out today." While her tone was friendlier than when they last spoke, her arms were crossed as soon as she stepped inside.

He quickly went over to her, so relieved that she was alive and well. "Fiona, you're here. I tried calling you, what happened?"

She annoyed with him, but she at least let her arms come down to her sides. "As you may or may not remember I do have a job, which includes investigating a series of break-ins. I don't have time to drop what I'm doing to come here while you recovering. Besides the mayor assured me you'd be in good hands."

His face hardened at the mention of Mayor Mills. "You could say that."

Not pressing him for more details, she sighed. "I'm glad you're alright. I wanted to see if you needed a ride home."

Spying the clock behind her, he noticed that it was just before 3pm,"Don't you have work to do, deputy?"

She raised her eyebrow. "I wasn't kidding when I said I've been busy. I've had to work all day Sunday and yesterday. We got a possible lead and had to pursue it. To keep the rest of the roster schedule in some order, I took the rest of the day off."

That worked for him. It would give them some private time and he could show her something she needed to see. "Alright, I just have to wait for the nurse to come back with my discharge papers and I'll be ready to go."

It only took about 20 minutes for Nurse Harrison to come back with everything. She offered to get Jefferson a wheelchair to help him get to the car, but he refused. He may have been bruised up, but he could walk. Besides his pride wouldn't let him have the deputy see him in such a weak state.

Fiona pulled up in a black Acura Integra and Jefferson shook her head. "I thought you had a motorcycle."

"I do, but since you needed a ride, I borrowed my cousin's car." She opened the passenger door and he slid right in. After he strapped himself him, she asked, "What's the quickest way to your house?"

"Already trying to get rid of me?" He teased. "I actually would like to stop by the toll bridge if you don't mind."

She was curious at the weird detour. There was nothing there for him to see - no stores or rest areas. "Why?" She moved the car out of the parking lot.

"I promised you I had proof of who you are and I want to make sure you get it now rather than later." He used the side mirrors to make sure they weren't being followed. He doubted Mayor Mills would be behind them, but he was a bit worried that Sidney Glass would snoop around. Seeing no one, he continued. "I need you to have the whole picture before you make a decision."

Still keeping her eyes on the road ahead, the young deputy spoke very reluctantly. "I'm not sure if now is a great time."

He was baffled that she was now pulling back when a few days ago she was demanding answers. He was concerned about the sudden change of heart. "Did you say anything to Regina?"

Immediately Fiona pulled the car to the shoulder. The sudden jerk pressed him against his seat and he winced at his bruises. She placed the car in park and faced him. "No, I did not say anything to the Mayor about what you said the other day. I've had too much to deal with to bring this…insane theory of yours up."

It finally dawned on him that she was scared, afraid to believe what he had told her. He didn't blame her as it did sound a bit outrageous, but she needed to know the truth. He placed his hands on hers. "It's not a theory Fiona. You are Regina's daughter. You must have plenty of questions and I'll answer as much of them as I can as soon as we get to the toll bridge."

Not answering him, she silently turned the car on and got back on the road. Within a few minutes they were at their destination. He got out of the car first and he headed right into the woods. The deputy warily followed. Once he saw the tree he used as a landmark, he grabbed a nearby rock and started digging. A shovel would've been much easier and quicker, but at least they didn't have to go to a store to pick one up and alert one of Regina's spies.

After 10 minutes, he pulled out an old wicker picnic basket. Opening the lid, Fiona looked at the contents. It appeared to be a child's tea set. Jefferson gently took out the tea cups and pot, laying them carefully on the ground besides them. He then took out the piece of the basket's bottom and Fiona realized that there was a small gap underneath with a few sheets of paper hidden in the compartment. He handed the papers to her. "These belong to 'll look at them in the car." With that, he reassembled the basket and placed the tea set inside the basket again. He then covered up the hole he dug with some dirt and relocated a small log over it.

Once they were back in the car, Fiona read the sheets. There were lab results from an out of state medical facility showing results from a maternity test. She saw her own name right beside and Regina's along with data about their alleles. There was a ton of numbers and notes, but her eyes quickly found the summary at the bottom. As clear as day it stated,

Based on the testing results obtained and analysis the probability of maternity is 99.996%.

Her mind read and comprehended the words easily, but her heart was in a completely different state. A flood of emotions came upon her, along with several of the questions she had asked before.

Seeing her react so strongly, Jefferson made the suggestion. "Why don't we go over to my house to talk about this privately." She nodded and they left.

**Storybrooke - Jefferson's Manor**

The two sat on the couch by the fireplace. It was big enough that they could share it and still have some space to themselves. Drinking the green tea Jefferson made, Fiona timidly sat in silence. Her eyes told him that she had so many questions, but she hadn't worked up the nerves to ask them yet. He decided to toss out some tidbits to hopefully make her feel more comfortable.

"I guess I should start off with who your father is." She nodded at him to go on so he did. "It's King Leopold."

The name sounded very familiar, but as she was a child when the Curse struck and her land was far from Regina's kingdom, she couldn't recall hearing much about him.

Reading her confusion he clarified. "He was Snow White's father as well. She's your half sister."

She dropped her cup, spilling the rest of the hot tea on herself. He moved to help her clean up, but she motioned him to stay where he was. "I'm fine. Just a bit surprised." More like overwhelmed, but she didn't want to fall apart right in front of him. She had actually met Snow White in person, before the Curse. The irony that she looked up to the bandit as a hero when she in fact her older sister was almost funny.

She then remembered that Snow White was accused of murdering her father and she was scared of her step-mother catching her. Finding her courage, Fiona asked, "How did he die?"

Jefferson paused a bit to figure a way to let this information out gently. "Rumor had it that a guest of the King from Agrabah murdered him."

Knowing he was holding something dreadful back, she inquired. "Any suspicions of family involved?"

"Yes, but it depends on who you ask."

"Who do you think?"

"The people believed your sister's claim that Regina had framed her."

A chill went up Fiona's spine. "What do you believe?"

"Well, your mother betrayed me and left me stranded in another land, away from my daughter so I can't say for a certainty that it was her. However it has her fingerprints all over it."

Curious as to why he would make that comment, she probed. "How do you know my mother so well? How did you two meet?"

"I'll do my best to give you what you want Fiona, but that my dear is a very long story. The short version is that we were both apprentices of Rumpelstiltskin." Cutting to the chase, he followed up. "The Dark One was using us to help build the Dark Curse, which we didn't know at the time. I acquired pieces so he could construct it and your mother was…maneuvered and molded to cast it. She got pregnant with you and things changed. Rumple was afraid that Regina's heart wouldn't be corrupted enough to enact the Curse so he arranged to have you kidnapped and made it appear that you had died as a baby. But The Blue Fairy interfered and gave you to your adoptive parents. "

The sheer amount of what he said barely registered with her. She was still trying to sort out and process that her birth mother had trained under The Dark One. Even as far as her land, Rumpelstiltskin's name was regarded with abject fear. There were too many questions to ask in one sitting. She needed time to be alone and to figure out everything. For now she thought about her mother and why she was pushed by the imp to carry out the Curse. "You said if she had me her heart wouldn't have been corrupted for The Dark Curse. What do you mean by that?"

Now Jefferson squirmed in his seat. He was hoping she wouldn't hone in on that detail. Still, he promised her that he would do his best and he intended to keep his word. "For the Curse to work, one had to not only be powerful enough to release it, they also needed to give up the heart of the thing they loved the most."

"Well, who died so the Curse was cast?" She wasn't sure she'd like the answer, but she needed to know.

"I'm guessing it was her father." He knew that Regina had hated her mother and after spending years with the Queen of Hearts he had a pretty good idea why. Abandoning him to the Queen's horrors to rescue her father and the fact that he was not around in Storybrooke, made him believe that he died by her hand. "That's why you can't tell Regina who you are. I have absolutely no idea if she would accept you or kill you. She's become a monster." He knew what she was capable personally, being a victim of her vicious attack. He didn't want Fiona to have to go through that.

Not wanting to go any further with this line of questioning, she switched to another set. "Did my parents know the truth?"

"Not at first, but when you were four I found you. Your parents and I worked out a deal to keep you safe in return my daughter Grace was healed. I told them what I knew about you then. When they first adopted you they were told a lie by the Blue Fairy."

While she was happy that her parents weren't co-conspirators in kidnapping a baby, she was angry that they did get the truth about who she was and withheld it from her.

Having an idea of what was running through her mind, Jefferson offered advice. "You mustn't blame your parents. They were trying to protect you."

"Protect me from what?! My family? They told me my parents were dead and I believed them."She got up and started pacing his living room, doing small laps between the window behind him and the piano on the opposite side.

Jefferson was starting to see that she had developed a habit of moving to keep her emotions in check. He didn't want her to explode so he simply watched her from the couch. He spoke gently, knowing that what he was about to say could push her too far. "At that time Regina wasn't in the best position to mother you. She…." He was searching for a kinder way of saying how he really felt. "She became exactly who Rumpelstiltskin wanted her to be - a cruel, lonely woman who would do anything, I mean anything, to get her happiness. Because of her I lost my daughter Grace. Even before the Curse struck." He buried his face into his hands, hiding his tears. The past week had bought up too many painful memories, he was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.

Fiona stopped her own pity party and crouched beside him, placing her hand on his back. She was at a loss for words.


	19. Roll Call

**Storybrooke -Sheriff's Station**

Fiona couldn't believe it, but her wristwatch confirmed her fears; she was a more than 30 minutes late. She had absolutely no intention on spending the night at Jefferson's manor. However the potent combination of weighty emotions and heavy drinking meant that neither one of them was in a condition to leave the living floor as they were both emotionally depleted. Fortunately for her, Jefferson had made a disgusting elixir that helped her gain her bearings this morning, so she would be capable of preforming her duties today.

She fast walked the hall until she could inside the station. Usually the room was hardly occupied as Storybrooke tended not to have much drama. Now, though, almost all the available chairs had been taken.

On Monday evening, she found a small dagger in the dumpster behind The Rabbit Hole. The blade looked unusual with is hilt and etchings, possibly an antique, so they guessed that it may have came in from one of the burglaries.

Yesterday Graham checked with Mr. Gold and he confirmed that it was his. The sheriff had also talked to Mr. Chester, the owner, so he could question all the employees down at the station this morning. Judging by their appearance and dispositions, Deputy Kyle guessed that most of the employees weren't usually up this early.

Graham was in his office on the phone when he noticed that she was finally in. He slammed the telephone down and waved her into the glass partitioned area. Closing the door to give them some privacy, he asked in his thick brogue, "Where have you been?! I've been trying to reach your house." He took a moment to look at her again. Now he smirked. "Well, I see why you didn't pick up your phone. You're weren't home, were you?"

She shrugged her shoulders like a kid caught snatching a piece of candy. "I overslept at a friend's place, I'm sorry. I rushed here as soon as I could." Fiona had no intention of lying to her boss, not that it would work anyways.

She was wearing the exact same outfit she had on the day before. Happily it was still somewhat fresh, though she made a mental note to change shirts first chance she got.

Sheriff Humbert was certainly annoyed that of all days she'd picked this one to be late, but he was much more amused and curious than upset. He lowered his voice and couldn't help grinning when he inquired. "Where were you exactly?"

"Doesn't matter, does it?" She had no desire to open a can of worms so she kept mum.

Graham laughed at his deputy's shyness. "Sure, you keep your secrets deputy. I'll find them out."

She teased him back. "I hope so. You're the sheriff. It would be a shame for you not to figure that out." Fiona was glad that the to of them were back to joking around the station. After the awkwardness of his unexpected Saturday morning visit things had gotten a bit too professional and formal. He apologized profusely, claiming he had no idea what got into him. Knowing Graham well, she forgave him for the odd behavior.

"I will. For now, though, we have to focus on a case." Getting into work mode, he pointed to the crowd out there. "We'll start questioning the managers and then we'll interview the rest of the staff alphabetically."

Now that they were on the same page again, the duo stepped out his office with Graham taking the lead. "Mrs. Lamont do you mind joining us for a few minutes?"

Rolling her eyes, the middle aged bottled blond woman replied. "Do I have a choice?"

Mayor Mills got to the station carrying some bags of food and two gift wrapped boxes. Graham told her that they were questioning the entire morning, so she thought it would be nice if she brought over lunch for him. Knowing that the deputy would also be working she grabbed an extra sandwich for her as well.

The mayor saw that the station was practically cleared out. The only seats occupied were the ones in the interrogation room - Sheriff Humbert and Deputy Kyle along with a barely bearded young man. Regina dropped off the food at the appropriate desks and pulled up a chair to see how the interview was going while she waited to share a meal with Graham.

He was actually listening as the deputy was asking most of the questions to the possible suspect. While the kid was trying to withhold information the deputy was able to trip him just enough to get him to answer their questions.

_She is certainly good at getting others to open up_ she acknowledged to herself. Thinking at how easily Fiona befriended those downtown, the older woman was just a bit jealous. Even before she became Queen, she had a difficult time making lasting friendships. With the Curse, she hoped to have changed that.

Mayor Mills had no problem getting respect and fear from the townspeople, but she knew that no one in Storybrooke cared for her as a person. Even Graham was with her simply because she had taken his heart years ago and his life was unconsciously tied to hers. Their relationship was never going to go beyond the semi-regular dalliances they had. He was incapable of growing closer to her as the Curse clouded his mind.

The sad part was even though her memories remained intact, she too was suffering under the Curse just like everyone else. She would never develop genuine friendships with anyone, even the deputy. The girl had the misfortune of being cursed along with the rest of them. A twinge of guilt and misery hit her at that last thought.

As the two law officers were wrapping it up with the young man, she watched the deputy's mannerisms closely. There was something very familiar about her facial expressions and gestures. She couldn't quite place it.

Part of her was curious as to whom the deputy was in The Enchanted Forest, as Regina had no recollection of the girl. Since so many people came over to this land she knew it would be ridiculous for her to remember each and every face that she encountered in her life time. Perhaps the girl was a servant at the castle. No matter though, as that old life is gone forever.

Regina hadn't spoken to the young woman in person since she hastily dismissed her at the hospital. With only a week left before the woman was going to resign, the mayor knew she had to do something. She hoped her gift would help out.

Deputy Kyle and Sheriff Humbert came out of the room and both saw the brunette mayor by their desks. Fiona scrunched up her nose at the sight of the woman. "I'll escort Mr. Ferber outside." Sheriff Humbert sighed and walked over to Regina. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek when they had the room to themselves. "Always good to see you Madam Mayor." He flirted.

Ignoring his charming response, she walked over to his desk. "I brought lunch over and I have something to show you." He followed. "Thank you, I skipped breakfast today so this is much appreciated." Raising his brow, he picked up the box. "What is it?"

"Open it up and find out." She instructed while smiling. He quickly ripped the silver and gold wrapping off and opened the lid up. Inside he found a blue Nokia cellular phone. Feeling proud of herself, she informed him. "The budget has been approved. This is your town issued cell phone Sheriff. You can now reach people quickly while you're out instead of having to run back and forth between the station. All of your assistants will get one as soon as the rest are delivered. I've been assured they will come in no later than Friday." She enjoyed giving practical gifts that gave real benefits instead of giving something just for show.

Happy to receive the gift, he leaned in to kiss her again, but Deputy Kyle entered the room. Seeing as they were 'busy', she quickly grabbed her coat and started to walk out to get some lunch.

Behind her Regina called out, "Wait, Deputy Kyle! Don't leave; I bought lunch." Fiona turned around and noticed a brown bag and a tastefully wrapped box waiting at her desk. She slowly walked to her desk and just stared at the box. Unknowingly repeating Graham's question, she asked,"What is this?" Since wasn't her birthday and they had yet to solve this case, she had no idea why she would be getting a gift from her.

Regina noticed that the deputy made no attempt to pick up the box, she was simply watching it. "Why don't you open it up?" She anxiously suggested.

The deputy complied and saw a cell phone inside. Graham was looking over Regina's shoulder and noticed that it was also a Nokia like his, but hers was black. "I got you a cell phone. Now you and Graham can stay in touch. Hopefully this will help you with your work loads."

Conflicting emotions that Fiona had discovered last night at Jefferson's gushed up again and she was having some difficulty getting a handle on them. There were too many to sort through and complex to label. She looked up at the mayor, her eyes wet with sadness, but her face was serious. "I can't accept this."

Taken aback by the direct rejection, Regina was silent.

Graham's face revealed that he was disappointed with his partner's refusal. He thought she was being rude to an obvious gesture at appeasement.

Seeing that he and the mayor misunderstood her intentions, Fiona clarified. "I can't accept this gift madam mayor because I'm actually leaving the department next week. It would make no sense to keep this phone for a few days and then return it." Remembering Regina's own words to her in the hospital she added, "Save this for the next deputy."

Regina opened her mouth to protest, but abruptly a tall athletically built blond man came in. Fiona, instantly recognized him as her cousin. "Amelia, I need your help." She hated hearing him use her cursed name. Over the years, she tried to use it to keep her cover, but she slipped quite a few times. In her her heart she was always Fiona, so she decided to change it so her legal name in Storybrooke was Amelia Fiona Kyle, giving her an excuse to use her given name. So far the ruse had been working, but she was nervous about having Regina around when her family used it.

Her cousin almost jumped at the sight of the mayor, sheriff, and Amelia all together. He expected Graham, but he was apprehensive seeing Mayor Mills.

"I hate to interrupt a meeting. I thought you'd be at lunch." He explained.

So grateful for the chance to escape this awkward situation she snatched her coat. "Yeah, I was just about to go on break." She turned to her colleagues and picked up the sandwich. Summoning a genuine smile, she said. "Thank you for lunch Mayor Mills."

She made it just outside the doors with him when guilt came over her. She needed some space first to compose her thoughts and work out some things, but her heart knew that she had to talk to her mother. It just didn't feel right to leave so much unsaid, but there was no way she wanted to speak to her with anyone else around.

"Wait here," she said to her relative and walked back towards her desk. She bumped into Regina, the person she wanted to talk to. Perturbed, the older brunette went back to her sarcastic persona. "Already tired of your cousin Ms. Kyle?"

Brushing off the comment, Fiona tried to fix the situation. "No, I wanted to ask you if we could talk privately some time. I'm tired of.." Her hand pointed back and forth between her and her mentor. She had no idea how to describe their tumultuous friendship, so she decided to use that uncertainty be her explanation and instead focus on the outcome she desired. "I'd like us to be friends again."

Caught off guard by the change of heart the Mayor simply nodded.

Reaching her limit in this painfully thorny moment, she also nodded and returned to her cousin waiting outside.


	20. Cash Flow Problems

Walking over by the docks, Fiona threw away her empty wrapper in a nearby trash bin now that she finished eating the pastrami sandwich Regina bought over. She mentally shifted and addressed her cousin Ewan by his cursed name Noah.

Trying to make small talk, Noah commented, "I was a bit surprised to see you and Mayor Mills so cozy back there at the station. I heard that she tried to get you fired the other week."

Stopping for a moment, she looked at him, "Where did you hear that?"

"You act as if Storybrooke isn't a small town Amelia. Everybody knows everybody's it true that she wanted to get you out simply because you were trying to protect that crazy guy outside of town that was attacked?"

"Not quite. She volunteered to take over while Sheriff Humbert was investigating the crime scene." Seeing as it was bound to get out, she admitted, "I'm resigning as deputy next week though. For completely different reasons."

"Ah, I guess that bribe she gave you back at the station wasn't enough to change your mind. Good for you cuz. I knew that you weren't some pawn of hers."

Is he trying to irritate me?! "It wasn't a bribe, it was a gift."

"A gift for what?" He was curious to see why the grinch of a Mayor would extend any kindness.

"A mistake. That's it." She gruffly answered.

Noah knew it more to it than that; his mother mentioned how the mayor meddled and asked Felicia to help keep the deputy in town. He was upset that his own cousin was protecting Mayor Mills. "So you're willing to forgive her and not Mom? What's wrong with you?" He was angry at his cousin's behavior.

Sighing, she rubbed her temples. "I never said I wasn't going to talk to Aunt Felicia, but she hasn't exactly been reaching out to me." Fiona was personally upset that her own aunt had made no attempt whatsoever to rectify the situation between the them. No apologies, no phone calls, and certainly no gifts. Getting agrravated, she placed her hands on her hips. "Are you hear to berate me into talking to her or was there something else you wanted?"

Quickly changing his tone, he started, "I hate to bug you Amelia, but I need your help." He nervously played with his hands. Even though he was cursed, she knew her cousin's mannerisms well enough to know that he was about to ask her money again.

He seemed a bit scared. "What's wrong Noah?" She asked.

"Listen I'm a little short on money. I haven't gotten paid for a job, but I will real soon. Rent is coming up in a few days, so if you can just spot me, I'll pay you back as soon as I cash my next paycheck."

Hearing the mention of rent, she had a bad feeling that the amount was not going to be small. "How much do you need?"

Without skipping a beat he said. "$900."

"That's a lot of money Noah." She began.

Pushing her he commented, "Not for the town's deputy, right? I know Amelia, you always have a little bit saved away for rainy days." Trying to make her feel bad he snidely added, "And you haven't really had many rainy days since you've worked for the Mayor, am I right?"

A combination of anger and guilt washed over Fiona. Unlike her, the rest of the Kyles didn't really catch breaks in Storybrooke. The family business' income was very volatile with a few years barely avoiding running in the red. In fact, they only had avoided it because she offered to help out with the accounting for barely any pay.

Still, she didn't want to give him the money. Her cousin Noah was also an addict, though no one could quite prove it. Whenever he was around, money disappeared. He had a hard time finding steady work, but with some favors called in by her aunt, he managed to get an as needed position in construction.

"I thought you were doing construction. What happened?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah I am. It's just that the project is a bit delayed which means the money hasn't came in, but they say it'll be any day now. Come on, Amelia, you got to help me." He was begging. It made her feel uncomfortable, but she really couldn't trust him to use the money as intended. Her gut was telling her that he was hiding something.

"I wish I could, but I really don't have the money. What little I saved is supposed to tide me over until I find my next job. You're welcome to crash with me if you need a place, but I'm not giving you any money. "

Putting up his hands, he waved her off. "Forget it then! I'll come up with something on my own." With that he pushed his hands into his coat and walked away.

Fed up with his odd behavior, she let him leave. He wasted pretty much her lunch break, so she decided to walk back to the office.

Noah was screwed. With no money and no upcoming job, he was completely broke. He hadn't heard from his mysterious boss in about a week. Usually the man contacted him promptly after job to arrange payment, but now Noah was left with a bag of otherwise useless junk from Gold's shop. He knew that the offer was too good to be true. What if this was all a setup? Mr. Gold's reputation for being ruthless with those that crossed him, terrified Noah. There was no way returning the antiques he stole would go unpunished. Somehow the pawnshop owner would find out. Noah had to find a way to get out of town before he was caught.

Walking to the nearest pay phone and checking that no one was around, Noah dialed his best friend's number. "Listen, I have an idea about a new job, meet me tonight to go over the details." He figured getting the ball rolling on a side job would solve his financial this last break-in he was sure he could grab enough valuables to sell. Noah had the perfect spot - The Mayor's House.


	21. Shaky Ground

**Storybrooke Cemetery - Mills Mausoleum**

As a way to deal with the monotony of living in Storybrooke, Regina developed rituals to help her sane and to keep some idea of the time passing. One of her most cherished routines was visiting her father's final resting place every Wednesday evening to bring him fresh flowers. Running her hands over a plaque displaying his name, she thought about some of her fondest memories with her father.

No matter what she did, he was always by her stand. In fact her only regret in releasing the Curse was that he had to die. If there was another way, she would've taken it, but what was done was done. She had her revenge on Snow White and she won. Though on some nights like these a small part of her felt her victory was hollow. Everyone's happiness was taken away, but she didn't really gain hers. She was alone in this land, unable to move on from her losses.

Someone started yelling and Regina broke away from her previous reflections. It was coming from outside, so she decided to check out what the commotion was for. Leaving the mausoleum, she noticed that she was not alone at the cemetery. Walking towards the sound, she saw a woman screaming and kicking at some headstones.

As her eyes adjusted she recognized the deputy by her well worn brown jacket. Even though she was certainly fascinated by the sight, she knew she had to give the girl some privacy. When she stepped back, her foot stepped on a twig and gave away her presence. The deputy looked up in her direction and Regina saw that the woman had been crying for quite some time. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you." She apologized.

Catching her breath, Fiona stopped what she was doing. "What are you doing here?"

"I come on Wednesdays to bring my father flowers." She pointed to a mausoleum up on the top of the hill. Fiona had noticed it before and wondered who it belonged to. She paused and reflected on the that just entered her mind. Was Regina's father really here? If so, that meant her grandfather's final resting place was right in her sight. The thought unnerved her a bit.

Feeling uncomfortable that the young deputy was staring at her father's spot a little too intensely, Regina asked, "Who are you yelling at?"

Fiona said nothing, instead she merely nodded her head to what was in front of her. Taking the hint, Regina walked over and read the inscriptions. The tombstones belonged to Colin and Helen Kyle. "Your parents?" She never heard the deputy mention her parents before, but it made sense since she was living with her aunt. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be. She was fighting hard to calm down after her last outburst. She came here, hoping to get some private time to let out some of the hurt and anger she had built up recently. Fiona knew that technically her parents weren't buried here; they rested in the other land, but this was as good as a place as any to get her frustration out. She still couldn't believe that her parents had lied to her. She knew she was adopted, but they withheld that they knew who her birth family was.

Letting her curiosity get the best of her, the Mayor asked, "How did they pass?"

Fiona knew her supposedly cursed story. When she discovered everyone else had false memories in this new land, she informally interviewed those around her so she could keep up appearances. She dutifully summarized it for Regina."My parents died in a car accident after leaving a party one night. I was 6, so I needed a guardian. My aunt Felicia took me in, even though her house was already full and technically we weren't related by blood." She clarified, "I'm adopted."

It amazed her that even with the Curse and the false memories her aunt still had taken it upon herself to keep an eye on her, It was as if a kernel of her former self was peeking through. "They're the only family I have." A pang of guilt came over Fiona since she had been avoiding the woman recently. " Let me amend that. They were the only family I had. We're not exactly on speaking terms right now."

Regina felt just a tiny bit guilty over her part in the rift. Even though she knew it was for the best that Fiona stayed in town, it didn't make it easy on her to see the consequences of that choice. The raven haired mayor placed her hand on the young woman's shoulder. "You'll work it out eventually. Family always does." Looking again at the headstones in front of her, Regina noticed that besides where the deputy kicked them, they were noticeably covered in moss. That took some time to build up. "It's been awhile since you've visited them."

Immediately Fiona put her guard up. _Had she been spying on her?_ "What makes you say that?"

The Mayor went over and brushed some of the ivy that had also covered it. "The moss gave me a clue."

Fiona sighed. It was downright shameful how she was acting. "You're right. I haven't been here in years."

"Why visit now then?" Seeing the deputy this angry was a bit confusing as it was apparent they had been dead for many years.

Not sure how to answer her, the younger woman treaded very carefully. "I just discovered that they lied to me. I thought they loved me, but they kept secrets."

"Perhaps they were trying to protect you dear." She tried to reassure her.

"No, they were thinking of only themselves. Maybe they thought I'd run away to my birth family." She shrugged at the last thought. She had no way of knowing what went through their minds. Jefferson told her that he had met her parents and he revealed what little he knew to her father.

Even without knowing the details, Regina felt pretty confident that the Kyles had the best intentions for their child. While Fiona certainly had her flaws and some growing up to do, the Mayor could tell that she was raised by a caring family. "You don't know that. There could be a million reasons why they did it. "

It felt weird to hear her biological mother defend her adoptive parents, especially without having the full story. "Tell me, if you had a child, would keep secrets from her?" She had meant to say him, but the slip of the tongue caused her to go with the female gender.

The look on Regina's face told the deputy that she had crossed a line. "No, I wouldn't. I'd make sure that I was upfront with her no matter how painful it may be." She didn't have to second guess her answer. It was a vow she made when she was pregnant with Rose. She had every intention of being the best mother she could be to her child.

Fiona saw Regina lost in her own thoughts and couldn't help, but wonder if she was thinking about her. She started speculating what would happened if she wasn't taken away from her mother. Unable to find the right way to broach the subject, but still trying to get an unofficial gauge on Regina, Fiona asked, "Have you ever thought of being a mom?" Quickly covering her tracks she added, "Like adopting?"

"I…I don't think I'm meant to be a mother." Her voice was just above a whisper and the deputy tried to think of something to make her feel better.

"I think you would be good. You're really …" Finding motherly words to describe Regina was a bit harder than she thought. "You're thoughtful."

That was certainly a word that Regina never heard used to describe her before. "I'm thoughtful?" She echoed, unable to actually believe what was said.

"The cell phone you gave me yesterday, it was a very thoughtful gift." Thinking about their relationship, she continued. "Look, I know that we don't always have the best rapport, but we sort it out, right? You said it yourself, isn't that what family is about?"

Taking in what the deputy was saying, Regina had to agree with the sentiment. She had made some changes while in Storybrooke over the years.

Seeing Regina smile gave Fiona courage to go a bit further. "In a way we're family, right?" She was testing the waters to see if Mayor Mills was open to the idea of having a family again. Unfortunately for her, that's not how Regina took it. "I'm so glad you feel that way Fiona. I'd like to think we work things out in the end."

Feeling as the moment to confide to her mother passed, Fiona simply played along. "Yeah, me too."

The Mayor was in much better spirits and she could tell that the deputy had lost her anger._ All in all, it was a good evening_ she thought. Patting her the back, Regina excused herself. "I don't want to intrude any longer." With that she left so she could go home.


	22. Break-In

**Storybrooke - 108 Mifflin St**

Pulling into her driveway, Regina parked her car and walked inside her home. Her evening had started off sober as she paid her respects to her beloved father, but she was able to fix her relationship with Deputy Kyle which made her feel much better. Another crisis averted, she thought as she unlocked the door to her house. Once inside the foyer, she hung her coat on the rack, laid her purse and keys at the small table, and she took out her cell phone. After confirming that she had no messages she slipped it into her pocket so she would remember to plug it in upstairs to recharge. She was just about to go up the stairs, when she heard some noise coming from her sitting room.

She walks over to the door, but hears nothing. Curious, she turns the knob to peek inside. She notices that the room is in complete chaos and goes in to get a closer look.

A man's voice greets her from behind the door. "Good to see you Madam Mayor."

When Regina turns to get a good look, the masked man grabs and throws her to the ground.

Being tied to her dining chair, still in the sitting where she was ambush and with no one watching her, Regina tried to assess the situation as much as she could. From the voices and the sounds she heard, she guessed that there were 3 men in her house who were robbing her. They have to be the same ones who broke into Gold's shop she figured. Her mouth was taped, but she had noticed that her arms weren't tightly wrapped behind her. Happy that they didn't check her pockets, she shifted a bit to grab her small Nokia cell phone. Without seeing the dial pad, she decided to use the speed dial and hoped that she pressed '2' to get Graham. She kept calling, hoping he would grow suspicious enough to check up on her. It was a long shot, but she had to take it.

Graham was at his apartment, getting ready to hit the sack. He had been pulling extra shifts at work and it was finally taking a toll on him. After washing up, he crashed on his bed to get some much needed shut eye. Just as he was about to drift off, he heard his cell phone ring. Rolling over to pick it up from his night stand, he saw from the device's caller ID that it was Regina. He grinned, thinking that she was calling for him to come over for a late night visit. When he picked up however, he didn't hear her voice. There was some rumbling, but no person on the other end. Shrugging, he hung up and placed his phone back on the small stand.

After about a minute, it went off again. He answered it. "Regina, is that you?" Still he heard no response from her. Once again, he hung up and a minute later, his phone rang. This time when he picked up and answered, Graham said"Regina if it's you, please press a button on the phone 3 times."

When she followed his instructions, he told her, "I'm coming!"

As he was getting dressed, he quickly called his deputy. She picked up after the second ring. "Graham?"

"Fiona, I need you to meet me at the corner of Mifflin and Main Street right away, I think Regina's in trouble." He tried to sound as calm as possible, but his voice gave away his fear.

The great thing about living downtown is that Fiona was only 5 minutes away from anywhere else by motorcycle. She met the Sheriff at the planned spot. He had came from around the corner, sweating. "I've just did a quick check around the property. Just off of Vernon, there's a white F-150 with no tags.I think Regina must have walked in while they were in the middle of a burglary. I've seen two figures moving around,but I don't know if they are the only ones inside. I also couldn't spot Regina from here, but I'm assuming that they have her because she called me several times, but whenever I picked up she didn't answer. The last call I did get something - several men talking, but she hung up before I could get anything useful."

"Maybe they discovered her phone?"

"Possibly. I called her house phone, but no one picked up." The only plus he could think of is that these men were intending on coming here to rob the place, not take a hostage. If they moved quickly, they may be able to catch them off guard.

"I need you to enter through the back yard into the kitchen and I'll come into the house through the garage. Take it room by room."

"Got it."

The two them split up to sneak into the mansion.

As she opened the kitchen door, she peeked around to the dining room, where she saw it was clear of any intruders and continued her deputy walked by the foyer and heard voices coming from upstairs. She headed up, carefully to climb very quietly so as not to disturb the burglars. See saw that Graham was also upstairs, just outside one of the doors. He pointed with his hands and held up 3 fingers. Understanding that he meant that there were 3 in the room, she nodded and approached the other side of the door.

Giving the signal, she got her gun ready, silently counted to 3, and then kicked the door wide. Graham moved in first and exclaimed, "Don't move!"

The ski-masked men jumped in surprise. The Sheriff pointed his gun at the closest intruder while the young deputy aimed hers at the one trying to reach for something. Noticing that Regina wasn't in the room, he asked, "Where's the mayor?!"

No one answered so he repeated himself, this time with an even more authoritative voice, "Where's Mayor Mills?!"

The third man who didn't have a gun directed at him threw a vase. Reacting, the biggest guy took a knife and slashed at Graham, cutting him in the arm. Deputy Kyle shot the attacker in the leg and when he fell, she moved to the third man. He tried to collide into her, but she moved at the last second. Her move caused her to lose her balance and she fell back into the hall way. Then two of the masked men went to attack the Sheriff, who had dropped his gun.

As she couldn't risk shooting her boss, she tucked away her weapon and tried to pull off one of the assailants. She wrestled with him and as soon as she could reach for it, she took an empty wine glass and smashed on his face. Blinded and wounded, she was able to roll him over and handcuffed him. She went to help her partner who had his hands full. "One of them left! Go after him!"

Fiona obeyed and ran out of the room.


	23. Choosing Family

**Storybrooke - 108 Mifflin St.**

Fiona ran after the injured intruder, following the blood drops in the hallway that lead from the bedroom to downstairs. She pulled her gun out to shoot him as he escaped through the front door, but he wasn't there. Confused at why he didn't leave, she checked the blood specks again and saw that instead of going out, they lead further into Regina's house. She used the trail to guide her into the study where the man was pointing a gun at Mayor Mills. She saw that the mayor was recently untied, but restrained with a choke-hold.

The masked man's right pant leg was covered in blood. "Let me go or I'll shoot her. " He warned. The younger woman's shot had hit him better than she had thought. Fiona realized that he couldn't safely leave alone with his injury. She had to assume that the man was going to use Regina as a bargaining tool.

Deputy Kyle drew her gun at the man, all too aware that she didn't have a clear shot. "Don't move! You're under arrest."

"Take one step closer and I'll shoot her. Don't test me." He admonished.

Suddenly a crash was heard upstairs and both Fiona and the burglar looked up.

Mayor Mills used the distraction to try and grab the man's face, but he pulled back before she latched on to his eyes. All she did was got was his mask off, but it revealed that was Fiona's gun was pointing at one of the last persons she'd imagine - her cousin.

"Noah! What are you doing?!" She exclaimed.

Using her cursed name, he ordered her. "Listen to me Amelia. You're going to put your gun down."

"Don't make this worse than it has to be." She was nervous, but she did her best to hide it from him.

His voice revealed the fear and anger he was feeling. "No! I'm going to leave here, with her and you won't follow me. If you do, I'll kill her." While Noah wasn't a violent man, he had no reservations about harming the Mayor. He had no love for her and her underhanded way she messed with his family.

"You know I can't let you do that. Let me take you in for breaking and entering, we can work out a plea deal." She looked at Regina, hoping the Mayor would play along so she could get Noah to stand down.

"That can be arranged Mr. Kyle. I won't press charges." She lied. She had every intention of making sure this lunatic was locked up. The raven haired woman knew that her ally would protest, but there simply wasn't a better solution. This dangerous menace couldn't be let free.

He scornfully laughed at the obvious lie he heard. "Do you actually think I'll believe you Madam Mayor? I'm not an idiot. You'll throw the book at me as soon as I'm handcuffed." He was crashing bad from his high and his paranoia was taking over. He had to get out quick - if he was caught, he wouldn't make it to trial. Mr Gold would want revenge and he had the connections around town to get it. Noah suspected that Mayor Mills was one of those connections.

Seeing that he was thinking about options, Fiona tried to reason with him some more. "I won't let that happen Noah. I promise you." She had never broken her word with her family, so she hoped that this vow would carry some weight with him.

He remained unconvinced. "You can't make that kind of promise. You're just the deputy."

Where was Graham?! Fiona couldn't delay him much longer - he was going to attempt to leave with Mayor Mills and she wasn't sure she could shoot him if push came to shove. She decided to try a different tactic. "Please, Noah. Don't hurt her! She's my friend."

Regina gasped; she never heard the deputy openly call her a friend.

Noah flashed his voice was ragged, but still full of venom. "No, she's not. She's just using you. Don't you see that? She's so desperate that she made mom lie to you all to get you to stay in town. What kind of friend does that?"

Deputy Kyle wasn't going to argue with him. She knew that he wasn't thinking straight and that getting him more upset would only make things worse. "Perhaps, but she;s important to me. You still have to let her go. We can work this out."

Pissed that his cousin wasn't listening, the linebacker of a man ordered Regina. "Get up!"

The stubborn woman refused. If she was going to die by his hand, she was going to do it on her terms. She stayed where she was.

Frustrated at her defiance, he jammed his gun against the side of head. "You have 10 seconds to cooperate Mayor Mills or I will blow your head off."

Unafraid, she looked forward. "I don't kindly to threats."

Fiona couldn't believe that her mentor was treating this threat so lightly. "Shut up Regina!" She agitating her cousin wasn't making the situation better.

The burly blond man started the countdown. "10, 9, 8"

"Drop the gun Noah!" The deputy's voice was firm. She hoped that he would listen.

Angered by the lack of cooperation from he continued, "8,7,6,5".

She was trying to plead and order him at the same time. "Please stop!"

"3,2,1-"

A shot was fired and Regina fell to the floor, convinced that she was hit.

The deputy rushed over past the Mayor and grabbed her cousin. He was laying down, her gun besides him on the carpet. His gray jacket was becoming soaked in blood and Regina saw that he had been shot squarely in the chest. The area rug underneath him was getting drenched in blood as well and that's when the Mayor knew that the intruder was dead. The deputy seemed to have missed that observation as she was futily trying to stop the bleeding.

Graham came into the room. Hearing the gunshot distracted the last burglar upstairs and he knocked him out. He quickly un-cuffed Regina and checked to make sure she was alright. Besides some bruises, she was fine.

Examining the scene Graham used his radio to call for an ambulance for the injured and a coroner for the recently deceased.

**Storybrooke General Hospital**

As procedure dictated, everyone was taken to the hospital to be examined. Sheriff Humbert and Mayor Mills were cleared for release the next day. Graham's injury had fortunately had been been relatively superficial. He stayed at the tiny hospital to make sure that the two surviving criminals were under constant surveillance. After talking with Dr Whale Regina found out that the deputy was being kept an extra day for observation. Based on events and her reactions (or rather her lack of once she was dragged away from her cousin's body), the doctor felt it would be best if she recuperated with others watching her.

Regina sat on a bench outside the main entrance of the tiny hospital, waiting for Sidney Glass to take her to Granny's. Since her mansion was still being processed and it would be a bit before everything was cleaned, she rented a room at the bed and breakfast for the next few weeks. As she looked for the reporter's car to arrive, she spotted Jefferson coming from the visitors' parking lot. He flashed her a foul look when he saw her, but otherwise tried to ignore her as he approached the sliding doors. Coward she thought. Unable to resist, she got up to block him from entering. "What are you here? I thought I made myself very clear about where and whom you visit."

He made no attempt to hide his disgust at her. "I'm here to check on Fiona. She needs me right now." He couldn't believe that she would have the audacity to interfere, especially after what happened.

"The last thing she needs right now in this delicate situation is you." She had restrained herself from bothering the poor girl even though she wanted to personally express her gratitude for having her life saved. When Dr. Whale told Regina that Fiona had requested no visitors, she respected it. Jefferson wasn't getting anywhere near her. "Turn around right now and I'll forget that you broke the rules."

"No, I'm not going to abandon her." Even though it had been awhile since he cared for someone besides his daughter, the instinct to protect a loved one came back quickly.

"Abandon her, you sound as if you think you two are an item. Go home, before I call Dr. Hopper to have him increase your medication."

Hearing her threat, he realized that Regina hadn't spoken to Fiona since last night. "You don't know, do you?" He tried not to smirk, but it was hard not to hold it over her head. "Fiona called me. Asked me to come."

"No, you're lying." She had distinctly heard Dr. Whale that the young woman wanted no visitors at all.

"If you don't believe me, then check with nurse's station on her floor. There will be specific instructions - no visitors besides family and myself per her request." It gave him some satisfaction to see the glassy eyes on his former partner's face. He picked at the scab just a bit more. "Regrettably, thanks to you, her family has disowned her. I'm all she has."

The color drained from her face. Dr. Whale had lied to her. She looked at the man in front of her again. Her voice was unusually soft. "Why?"

He actually had another snarky remark, but Jefferson couldn't help but pity Regina. Her own daughter rejected her. He found himself unable to gloat in this fact and instead gave a heartfelt answer. " Because I love her."

The Mayor inhaled sharply at his declaration.

"If you truly care about Fiona, you'll let me pass Regina." He pleaded with her. " I can help her get through this."

After a moment, the Mayor shifted her foot, giving him a chance to go through the doors. Before heading inside, he simply said, "Thank you."

He started walking when he felt her grab his arm. "Please take good care of her." Jefferson nodded and continued on his way.

As Sidney finally pulled up, she walked to her ride. Once she arrived at Granny's and was checked into her room, she laid on her bed, privately reflecting through tears on the irony that the so-called Evil Queen had been able to put her young friend's happiness ahead of her own.

Jefferson wasn't sure what condition she'd be in when he came into the room. She sounded so hopeless on the phone. Hearing him arrived, she gave a tiny smile. "You came."

"Of course." He walked up and kissed her. He wasn't sure how she would react, but he was relieved to see that returned the kiss. "Is there anything I can do?" He asked.

With those words, she buried her face into him and started sobbing uncontrollably. "I killed him!" He clutched her tighter, physically assuring her that it was ok to get everything out.


	24. Escape

**One Year Later**

_I have to get out of Storybrooke._ Sitting across from Jefferson at Granny's, she finally decided what needed to be done. She was tired of being torn in two by people she cared deeply for.

After Noah's funeral a year ago, which she was banned from attending by her aunt, Fiona saw the true evil behind the curse. For the first few weeks, the entire town was in grief, shattered by losing one of their own in such brutal circumstances. People on the streets glared at her, silently condemning her for taking a life so carelessly.

Her adopted family shunned her so she bonded with Jefferson drawing closer over the pain of loss. Their budding relationship was a lifeline as she tried to rebuild. Eventually realizing that helping others in Storybrooke gave her a sense of purpose, she returned to Graham one month after resigning, asking for her old job back, which he happily offered.

Once back on duty, she still had to adjust and she thought was barely surviving under that heavy weight of communal judgment, but she was about to see worse.

In the months that followed, people no longer gave her the cold shoulder. In fact, some were starting to smile and nod their heads as she walked by them. The Curse's mental fog made it as if that horribly painful happened in the distant past. When she tried to talk to Graham about it, he even seemed a bit hazy with the details, unable to recall when it occurred.

She also noticed that Regina was paying attention to her reaction to shooting, expecting to see her mind glaze over and for them to return to their chaotic friendship. She started faking it a bit, giving small smiles and chatting with her time to time, but there was no way she could look that woman in the eye and not think of that night. It was branded on her heart.

At times she confided to Jefferson that she wished Regina were somehow gone and the curse, but as soon as he tried to get her to betray the Mayor, Fiona heart convinced her not to go through with it. She still cared for her former mentor; she still saw some good in her.

Sadly, most days her heart told her that she made the right choice in protecting Regina and shooting her cousin. Her indecisiveness with Mayor Mills in turn caused her relationship with Jefferson to become strained.

Out of respect for the pain that her mother caused Jefferson for separating him from his beloved daughter, she vowed not to reveal who she really was for Regina. As a year passed from that tragic night, Fiona knew that she couldn't take it any longer. She had to get out of Storybrooke. And very shortly, she found an opportunity.

She had become more observant about the town and the curse and she had noticed that whenever someone tried to leave Storybrooke, something bad always happened. As part of her assignments, Deputy Kyle patrolled on weekends occasionally. This Saturday night, like the last few, she noticed about half a dozen guys on outskirts of town racing cars.

Despite Sheriff Humbert's and Mayor Mills' standing orders that these illegal races be shut down, Deputy Kyle did only the minimum. She ensured no one crossed the border, but she turned a blind eye to the races.

Last month, they were perilously close to crossing the line and she pulled stopped them just in time. Anticipating that they'd try something similar, she prepared for her escape by getting an extra copy of her license, claiming she had lost it. She also gathered any original documents she needed as well as saving up cash. She kept it all in a small bag that she hid.

Soon before she was about to quit for the evening, she noticed another racing was going to start. This time it was between two cars and they were heading south, as if leaving down. She had her cruiser's lights off on a dirt road besides the road. When the cars started, she turned on her car and raced parallel to them.

For a moment, she worried that her old cruiser wouldn't be able to stop them, but she pressed the gas pedal and gained some distance._ It's now or never_ she thought and she did a sharp turn, putting her vehicle perpendicular to the racing cars, about 150 ft by the town sign. She didn't have time to grit her teeth as the squeal of tires was instantaneously followed by the incredible force of a being hit by one of the cars and pushed across the border.

The smell of gasoline and the screams of people jarred her awake and she opened her eyes to see that she was hanging upside down. _I'm alive!_

Her cruiser had been flipped and her door was pinned against a tree. After fumbling to unbuckle herself, she opened her glove compartment and grabbed her small out the shattered window on the passenger side, she managed to pull herself away into the woods to catch a glimpse of the scene. One of teens had his car's hood crumpled, but he had been able to get out of his vehicle on his own. The other racer had stopped as soon as he noticed the deputy start pulling in front of him, avoiding any injuries to himself.

All eyes were on her car as the crowd tried to see if she was okay. Fiona heard the faint siren and knew someone had called about the accident. Knowing what she had to do, she walked to the other side of the cruiser, making sure wasn't seen and lit a match. She threw it at her car and as it burned she escaped into the woods ahead of her, away from Storybrooke and away from everything she had ever known.

**A/N: Next story (Never Say Neverland) opens up with Regina finding out who Fiona is and how they were separated. Sorry for the delay, I'm posting the first two chapters of that one tonight. Thank you for your reviews and feedback! **


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